Riffed from the Headlines is Townhall’s daily VIP supplement that examines deeply flawed aspects of journalism in the country. We will seek to hold accountable the blunders, misdeeds, wrongdoings, manipulations, unfair practices and fabricated narratives in the mainstream media.
The arrival of storms brings us the necessary arrival of reporters who feel the need to go into the storm to show us the effects that every person already accepts from a hurricane. Adding to this melodrama are those in the field who feel the need to over-exaggerate conditions, and each storm seems to provide us with at least one example of a reporter lying about what he is enduring.
We all remember Anderson Cooper covering a ditch with waist-deep water while his cameraman stood a few feet away on dehydrated land. There have been cases of reporters in boats where people have walked into the frame through a puddle only a few inches deep. This time, CNN gives us the tried-and-true method of a reporter who was hit by “high winds,” and the resident in the background dispelled the drama by calmly walking to his car, unfazed. (Bonus points to the producer for adding a shaky-cam effect to the suspenseful scene.)
We have your coverage from Hurricane Ian.
CNN reporter “bravely” braves weather conditions during live coverage as a resident casually gets into his vehicle about 100 feet behind him. photo:twitter.com/wrKFhoRyK3— Lie-Able Sources (@LieAbleSources) September 30, 2022
Evolution of the Hidden Tale – DAILY MAIL
Another common recent ruse is the media’s tendency to sell the idea that Donald Trump’s rallies are becoming underattended events. We get images of partially filled arenas to suggest that Trump’s interest is waning, but we get images taken before the event, with the seats just starting to fill up. Notice that they don’t show Trump addressing a half-empty hockey rink, for example.
The Daily Mail recently tried the same thing with Trump’s recent Ohio rally, where he was campaigning for JD Vance and other state candidates. After suggesting that the venue was empty, the paper was ruined by other reports that tried to suggest that the audience was reenacting a Hitler rally. These were the photos that some news organizations were running of Trump imploring attendees to raise one finger in the air, so they tried, lamely, to suggest that it was actually a “Nazi salute.” The problem was that the ruse ended up showing a packed arena.
The Daily Mail went back and completely changed the headline, removed any comment about the size of the crowd, and the reporter’s name was removed from the article. None of these changes are mentioned in the recently revived article.
Some pretty glaring changes to the Daily Mail article about Trump’s Ohio rally.
There was criticism of the low turnout, although in fact the event was attended by a full complement.
The headline was changed, all references to the crowd were removed, and the reporter’s caption was removed. photo:twitter.com/9u8mTVPMjH— Brad Slager: Distracted at the Car Show (@MartiniShark) September 30, 2022
Prose and Contradiction – VOX
In a dose of amusement induced obliviousness, Vox seems bemused by the keen decline in corporate ad spending this year. An outlet that relies on explaining things to us can’t fathom why companies are holding on to their ad spend.
You know this is going to be a very forced attempt to avoid the heart of the truth contained in the subtitle: “Four Theories on Why Ad Sales Are Down Even as the Economy Does Well.”
Then, after presenting data showing that promotional budgets are being cut, Peter Kafka offers some specific reasons why corporate finance is becoming doubly bound.
Yes, inflation is rising, the stock market is falling and there are plenty of dire warnings about the future.
Pete also presents another reality in one of his theories: the supply chain crisis.
“They say, ‘We can’t get enough product on the shelf, so why spend money now to increase demand if we don’t have the supply?'”
Yes, it’s a real mystery why companies don’t advertise as much these days. A surprising event, this move to save money certainly is.
I agree with all of the above options. https://t.co/lTq5fecHNK
— Jeff Gill (@Knapsack) September 30, 2022
Gilded re-frame – CNN
As we’ve written here before, the press doesn’t want to cover President Biden’s blatant public inaccuracies and on-camera ramblings. None other than our favorite, Chris Cillizza, is showing it in typical fashion.
This week, Cillizza, mindful of Biden’s many examples of mental weakness, took the “Republicans are throwing themselves at her” route, trying to portray it as an obsessive focus by the GOP and conservative press. Of course, as Donald Trump came down the slippery slope after his speech, we all had reason to be concerned and wonder about his future.
Liquidity @ChrisCillizza reports of the president’s health concerns.
CILLIZA ON TRUMP: “It has a huge significance for all of us”
CILLIZZA ON BIDEN: ‘Meh, These Republicans Are Throwing Themselves Out Again…’ photo:twitter.com/kvrShS7thk
— Lie-Able Sources (@LieAbleSources) September 30, 2022
Both types of standards – THE DISPATCH
One of the weirder cultural news stories of the week was when artist Lizzo was given the chance to play a crystal flute that once belonged to James Madison during her show. Many expressed some concern, so The Dispatch felt it necessary to report on the reaction, since it would of course give True-Cons an opportunity to denigrate other conservatives.
Responding to the reaction to the D.C. concert, Nick Catoggio expectantly has to find a racial component to the reaction, as he describes populists lamenting the Desecration Of Our Heritage on Lizzo’s episode. After long stretches of talking about himself, Catoggio gets to the point he wanted to make—his racial critique.
– To a certain type of right-winger, the spectacle of a black woman using a James Madison memento as a stage prop is a deliberate racial humiliation of “conquered” whites by their non-white “conquerors.” Lizzo playing a priceless instrument that belonged to a slave owner was a demonstration of racial progress, a political act in a miniature way. Although if you were so irritated that you considered it an insult or a “humiliation,” maybe you should take some time to consider why.
Okay, we decided to give these harsh lectures on racism for this reason: The photo chosen for this piece was not of Lizzo, but of Nzinga Imanio, another zaftig POC artist. I suspect that all the stocky flute players at The Dispatch look the same.
If you were outraged this week by Lizzo playing James Madison’s flute, it’s because you’re a racist.
If @AllahPundit the headline shows a picture of another POC performer, assuming it was Lizzo, that’s NOT racist. Get your facts straight, people. photo: twitter.com/Yj2RBvpfDP
— Brad Slager: Distracted at the Car Show (@MartiniShark) September 30, 2022
Blue-Anon – NEW YORK TIMES
In a guest essay, Jeff Shesol makes a powerful case for President Joe Biden to take action. In his opinion, Shesol believes the president has simply been standing by and it’s high time he took action to fix things.
See, the Supreme Court is broken, and the president has for some reason failed to take the appropriate steps to do something about it. How, you might ask, is SCOTUS “broken” exactly? Well, beyond issuing decisions it doesn’t like and preventing some of Biden’s agenda items he likes from being implemented, Shesol doesn’t really explain it. The closest he comes is to saying that the court has posed a more sedate challenge to the American system of self-government. Preventing the president from enforcing any policy agenda at whim and sending Roe vs. Wade back to the states certainly sound like steps toward self-government, but according to Jeff Shesol, these are the things that need fixing.
“Public dissatisfaction with the court is growing, and for good reasons, and will look for ways to express its dissatisfaction,” he writes. @JeffShesol. https://t.co/YBBUHKSOce
— New York Times Opinion (@nytopinion) September 30, 2022
