Media top headlines July 30
In media news today, The Tampa Bay Times runs a ‘hit piece’ on DeSantis’ press secretary, NPR gets mocked for a new policy allowing journalists to advocate for the ‘freedom and dignity of human beings,’ and NBCUniversal’s CEO insists Tokyo Olympics will still be profitable despite massive viewership drop
The Biden administration offered rare condemnation of The Washington Post as well as The New York Times over tweets that hype the spread of the coronavirus among vaccinated Americans.
Ben Wakana, the White House Deputy Director of Strategic Communications & Engagement who also serves on the COVID-19 Rapid Response Team, was highly active on Twitter responded to viral tweets put out by two of the country’s biggest newspapers.
The Washington Post was highlighting a CDC study that focused in on a “massive” outbreak in Massachusetts among the vaccinated.
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“Vaccinated people made up three-quarters of those infected in a massive Massachusetts covid-19 outbreak, pivotal CDC study finds,” the Post’s tweet read.
“Completely irresponsible,” Wakana reacted. “3 days ago the CDC made clear that vaccinated individuals represent a VERY SMALL amount of transmission occurring around the country. Virtually all hospitalizations and deaths continue to be among the unvaccinated. Unreal to not put that in context.”
A Washington Post spokesperson told Fox News that she was “looking into” the situation.
Wakana then responded to a tweet The New York Times put out which read, “Breaking News: The Delta variant is as contagious as chickenpox and may be spread by vaccinated people as easily as the unvaccinated, an internal C.D.C. report said.”
“VACCINATED PEOPLE DO NOT TRANSMIT THE VIRUS AT THE SAME RATE AS UNVACCINATED PEOPLE AND IF YOU FAIL TO INCLUDE THAT CONTEXT YOU’RE DOING IT WRONG,” the White House official wrote in all caps.
The Times did not immediately respond to Fox News’ request for comment.
Wakana later tweeted, “Let’s be clear. If 10 vaccinated people walk into a room full of COVID, about 9 of them would walk out of the room WITH NO COVID. Nine of them.”
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The Washington Post and The New York Times are seen by media critics as extremely friendly to Democrats with coverage that largely aligns with the Biden administration.
This marks the sharpest rebuke the White House has given to reporting from the Post and the Times since President Biden took office.