03.27.24
Reporting on the Mirror – NBC NEWS
As the fallout from the hiring-crying-firing of Ronna McDaniel continues, Max Tani is reporting that inside NBC News offices, some of the saner journalists have looked over the aftermath of the on-air therapy-couch sessions across the network and now are facing further pullback from Republican and conservative sources:
‘Political reporters here didn’t take part in the backlash, nor did they get to give input on the hire,’ one NBC News journalist said. ‘But they’ll be the ones who have to pick up the pieces with sources who are now dismayed with the organization.’ Four NBC News staffers expressed concern that instead of fixing the problem, hiring and then firing McDaniel had only alienated liberal viewers while confirming Republican fears. Two Republican aides told Semafor they’d texted their NBC News contacts to express their anger with the decision.
New: NBC News staff are concerned that the hiring and abrupt firing of Ronna McDaniel will damage relationships with GOP sources, making it more difficult to break news. Some Republicans have been complaining to journalists at the network about the move. https://t.co/siIjlsZYX1
— Max Tani (@maxwelltani) March 27, 2024
Low-Octane Gaslighting – "60 MINUTES"
Pretty significant missing information in that misinformation segment, Lesley!
That Sunday shipment from Lesley Stahl about the challenges misinformation researchers face with apathetic social media platforms and being picked on by conservatives who are critical of their work continues to cause problems for the program. In one of the portions of her report, Stahl sat with Rep. Jim Jordan who explained that the problem with these researchers flagging speech for removal is they are working with the government to silence free expression.
Stahl argued that these were simply diligent workers looking to have the truth featured, and they were having their First Amendment rights threatened. Now, we learn otherwise.
It turns out Stahl and her producers worked to avoid informing viewers that the researcher featured – Kate Starbird – is doing her work while teaming up directly with the Biden administration:
Starbird spearheaded a project that Biden’s National Science Foundation (NSF) granted $2.25 million in 2021, and the researcher collaborated with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) by serving on an advisory committee under its Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), which CBS did not mention.
60 Minutes Gets Caught Red-Handed After Interview With 'Misinformation Expert'https://t.co/IDFWXg05el
— RedState (@RedState) March 27, 2024
Race to the Bottom – ASSOCIATED PRESS
There is all manner of concern and plenty to report over the disaster in Baltimore where the Francis Scott Key Bridge was hit by a crippled freighter and the entire structure was sent into the water. Seven lives so far are confirmed lost in this event. One story has some heroic police responding to the Mayday call from the freighter, recognizing the potential for disaster and shutting down access to the span, severely limiting the loss of life. There is also the significant impact this will have on the city, as the bridge was a main artery for the Port of Baltimore.
But The AP saw a significant angle to this story: Francis Scott Key had a racist past! One friend of mine actually remarked early after the accident that there could be a controversy over the naming when the bridge becomes rebuilt, and sure enough, here is The AP rushing in to make this dose of dark humor a reality.
Who was Francis Scott Key, whose namesake bridge fell? His poem became 'The Star-Spangled Banner' https://t.co/Y5tMA75Dob
— The Associated Press (@AP) March 26, 2024
Body Checking the Fact-Checkers – VARIOUS OUTLETS
Well, at least he did not say his son Beau died on the bridge.
In his addressing the bridge disaster, Joe Biden made an odd comment. (Yes, we know this is hardly unique.) The compulsion Biden has to inject himself into any story was on display, as he felt it necessary to comment that he has traveled across that span:
I’ve been over (it) many, many times, commuting from the state of Delaware, by train or by car.
Except the Key Bridge did not have any rail lines, so there would have been no way for the president to have commuted by train across it – ever. There is a distinct lack of activity from the fact-checkers on this detail, the same ones who energetically tabulated Donald Trump's prevarications on a daily basis.
JUST IN: President Biden reveals that he took the train over the Francis Scott Key Bridge "many times" during his commute even though the bridge didn't have train tracks.
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) March 26, 2024
Very impressive!
Biden, who appeared to be taking a train that didn't need tracks to operate, said he… pic.twitter.com/smAPcwPo3x
Race to the Bottom – FOX NEWS
Justin Baragona of The Daily Beast has noted a significant absence at Fox News. Raymond Arroyo has been notably absent from the network, especially from his regular stints when he would appear on "The Ingraham Angle." It would appear this departure has come following the social media reaction to an appearance he made weeks ago when he made comments on how black voters could be swayed over to voting for Donald Trump as a result of the candidate having just released his $400 pair of Never Surrender athletic shoes.
Charlamagne Tha God Slams Fox News Contributor for Saying Black People Will Vote for Trump ‘Because They Love Sneakers’ | Video https://t.co/2EfRamwMhZ
— Thomas Payne (@TPayneCommon) February 23, 2024
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"Riffed from the Headlines" is Townhall's daily VIP feature covering the nation's deeply flawed aspects of journalism, where Brad Slager looks to bring accountability to the mishaps, malaprops, misdeeds, manipulations, malpractice, and manufactured narratives in mainstream media.
