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Illicit McDonald’s Items, Beer Going Flat, and Planets Made of Meat – Opinion

By Pluralist / August 7, 2022

Our weekly recognition of less-than-meritorious excellence in journalism worthy of a skewed version of Pulitzer Prize consideration.

In addition to our media-mocking endeavor at Townhall Riffed from The Headlines we recognize outstanding journalism performances and collect worthy submissions for Pulitzer Prize boards in various categories. Let’s look at the most recent examples of journalistic failure-excellence to properly identify the low watermark within the media.

 

Distinguished Editorial Writing

  • Kyla Scanlon — New York Times

Ms. Scanlon was offered editorial space by the New York Times for an article she wrote that would have been rejected by an MTV editor.

Scanlon tries to explain away our economic hardships by employing flower child, feel-good semantics and daft language that does not explain the economy in any cogent fashion — but manages to explain that “Schoolhouse Rock” might have been too complex of an educational aid for Kyla.

“The vibes in the economy are … weird. It has very real results. According to a recent study, wider feelings do drive people. For example media stories about the economy were responsible for 22% of the decline in consumer sentiment over the second half 2021. People are messy and silly. Far too many economists and experts forget that the economy is really a bunch of people ‘peopling’ around and trying to make sense of this world.”

 

Distinguished Public Service

For years it’s been obvious that CNN has shown a marked hostility towards Republicans and Conservatives. The new Warner-Discovery management has put in place and is willing to allow more Republicans to air on their network. Wait, not willing – they are begging to have them come back on.

Chris Licht is the brand new network CEO. He was visiting D.C. last week and was eager to seize control of his Capitol cloister to try to persuade Republicans to allow him to resume airwaves. For those senators who were not willing to sit with him, Licht chose to hold his meeting in an isolated private space. This was to keep reporters away from any politicians.

 

Distinguished Investigative Journalism

A video of Joe Biden speaking at a press conference is circulated on social media. His wife Jill is speaking and he then wanders off. Split screen footage of Joe Biden at a press conference shows an ice cream truck. The audio also includes the sound from the vehicle. This suggests that Joe was lured to leave camera. It has been available for almost one year and was offered by a comedian account.

The Reuters facts-checkers have confirmed that this blatantly funny video manipulation is actually a manipulation of video for comic purposes.

 

Distinguished Feature Writing

  • Walter Finch — Daily Mail Online

A prominent French physicist has been forced to apologize for a photograph that he said was from NASA’s new space telescope. Etienne Klein, a renowned philosopher and research director at the French Atomic Energy Commission, informed his followers that “There is no Spanish charcuterie item other than Earth..” Apparently, not too many people could ascertain that he was kidding in his post, and they believed that his image of a roiling planet of heat and energy was, in fact, a slice of chorizo.

 

The Best Local Reporting

  • Esteban Bustillos — WGBH Boston

New England has some bad news regarding the crisis facing area brewers. Due to severe CO2 shortages, local beers may be less available. This could be double-impactful for science communities, since they will continue to push the notion that Earth’s future is in danger due to an escalating shortage of commercial CO2. Carbon dioxide in excess

 

International Excellence in Reporting

  • Tamara Hardingham-Gill — CNN

Honestly, not many people would admit to eating at McDonald’s.

However, Australia’s medical reaction is not limited to COVID cases. Australia’s travel officials are alerted by a recent epidemic of foot-and-mouth disease. Undeclared biological content in baggage was a major offense that resulted in one airline passenger being fined a significant amount. The traveler was assessed a fine of over $1,800–because they had Egg McMuffins and a breakfast croissant stowed in their luggage.

 

Distinguished National Reporting

  • Joshua Bote — San Francisco Gate

This story is for everyone. There are ministers, batmobiles, sheriffs who have lost control, and flamethrowers. What’s not to love?!

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