Jen Psaki
The Daily Mail, a U.K.-based tabloid, is a mixed bag. They pay for tips and photos, a disreputable practice in professional journalism circles. They’re also a rightwing propaganda soapbox and not above yellow journalism.
But they often have pictures, names of suspects, and other information before mainstream media sources.
Sometimes that comes in handy when I’m posting about a breaking story.
Here’s an example of Daily Mail yellow journalism. It’s a headline the day after a gunman tried to shoot Trump at a Pennsylvania rally. The headline says:
“Biden’s former press secretary Jen Psaki is blasted for demanding Republicans change their ‘rhetoric’ and ‘tone’ or face ‘retaliation’ after Trump shooting”
That’s a lie. This is what Psaki, now an MSNBC talk show host, actually said:
“One thing for all of us to remember is it may not feel paused tomorrow or Tuesday. And part of that is because the convention is starting and unless the programming changes, the rhetoric and how the programming is set up is not actually calming the tone or restoring civility. We’ll see if that programming changes but if it stays the same, that is escalating it. It is not a civil approach to a convention.
“For anyone out there who has a platform who thinks the moment right now is to be political and attack the other party — you are feeding into the danger. You are making it more likely there’s retaliation. I’m incredibly scared. I’m scared for journalists. I’m scared for people who have public platforms of all parties.”
That’s not a threat of retaliation; it’s a plea for civility at the Republican convention in order to avoid inciting retaliation (against who?) for the attempt on Trump’s life. She’s TV talk-show host, and that’s a legitimate topic for discussion.
This is a valid case of a media outlet misquoting someone. It’s probably intentional, given Daily Mail’s partisan slant. They filled the rest of the article with jibes and retorts from MAGA supporters. You can read it here.