Handshake fail? Context reveals the intentions of Poland's first lady (Video)

Handshake fail? Context reveals the intentions of Poland's first lady (Video)

Tatiana Prophet
Fake News, Fake News Awards

By TATIANA PROPHET

Agata Kornhauser-Duda, the first lady of Poland, actually shook President Donald Trump's hand first, but did not shake Melania Trump's hand in that sequence, according to raw footage of the Warsaw event. Then one minute later, Mrs. Duda moved to compensate for leaving Mrs. Trump out, and reached over to shake her hand, brushing past President Trump. Right after that, she again shook Donald Trump's hand. So whoever edited the clip that went viral, and upon which Time magazine, Vanity Fair, Mediaite and Metro UK based their stories, had to deceptively cut it short on both ends. That is the very definition of fake news.

Trump handshake fake: Poland's president shuts down 'fake news'

Trump handshake fake: Poland's president shuts down 'fake news'

Tatiana Prophet
Fake News

Media outlets breathlessly claim Trump was snubbed before updating their stories

By TATIANA PROPHET

Another trip to Europe, another awkward handshake moment by President Donald Trump, screamed all the headlines on Thursday after he and the first lady landed in Warsaw.

"Watch Donald Trump handshake rejected by Polish first lady in hilariously awkward exchange," read the headline in Newsweek -- yes, Newsweek! It seems the solely online political magazine is trying to be hip with the kids these days.

New York magazine, Huffington Post and CNBC all had various versions of headlines and articles informing us all on this side of the Atlantic that Agata Kornhauser-Duda had snubbed Donald Trump. Some even said Trump was frowning after she went to shake Melania Trump's hand instead.

Vanity Fair intoned in 40-point type: "The First Lady of Poland Smoothly Avoided Shaking Donald Trump's Hand," adding: "With his awkward handshake history, can you blame her?"

Intel chiefs refute reports of pressure to intervene

Intel chiefs refute reports of pressure to intervene

Tatiana Prophet
Media on Trump, Unmask the Bias

Rogers and Coats state they were never pressured to act inappropriately, but most media focus on refusal to give details

MEDIA CRITIQUE
By Tatiana Prophet

The burden of proof in the current climate of Washington, D.C., appears to be on those accused by anonymous sources.

"Coats and Rogers refuse to say if Trump asked them to sway Russia probe," wrote Politico.

"Coats, Rogers Refuse to Discuss Trump Requests on Comey, Russia," wrote U.S. News.

"Intelligence Officials Sidestep Senate Questions on Trump and Russia," wrote The New York Times.

Witness the headlines after Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and National Security Agency Director Admiral Mike Rogers answered questions regarding an anonymously sourced Washington Post article stating that President Donald Trump had contacted them to minimize or lay off the investigation into collusion between his presidential campaign and the Russian government with respect to the 2016 election.

The bias is unmistakable here. Remember on May 3, when James Comey testified before the same body? He refused to answer literally dozens of questions about investigations into Senator Clinton as well as the Russia investigation. Was that the substantive takeaway from the event? No, it was that Comey had felt "mildly nauseous" that he may have affected the Presidential election. And that was after saying he would make his revelation about the Anthony Weiner laptop, and not about any investigation into Russian interference in the election, all over again.

Trump in Europe: ‘The shove heard round the world’

Trump in Europe: ‘The shove heard round the world’

Tatiana Prophet
Media on Trump

Viral 'shove' was not at photo op at all

Media Critique
By TATIANA PROPHET

The major media’s biggest takeaway from the European leg of President Donald Trump’s first foreign trip was that he shoved the prime minister of Montenegro to get to the front of the group photo.

Except the only thing is, it wasn't anywhere near a photo op when he shoved, or pushed aside, the prime minister of Montenegro. A review of the raw video reveals that the “shove” took place during an informal tour of the building, well after the group photo. The fact that they are standing next to a background of distinctive steel beams and windows backs this up. At this point, Trump pushed past Dusko Markovic to get closer to Jens Stoltenberg, general secretary of NATO, who was speaking and pointing to the architecture of the new building.

Rod Rosenstein: Anonymous sources conflict with the man himself

Rod Rosenstein: Anonymous sources conflict with the man himself

Tatiana Prophet
Anonymous Sources

By TATIANA PROPHET

Last Wednesday, a day after President Donald Trump fired FBI Director James Comey, the Washington Post published a detailed account of what led to the firing.

"Inside Trump’s anger and impatience — and his sudden decision to fire Comey," read the headline.

For four paragraphs, the authors -- Philip Rucker, Ashley Parker, Sari Horwitz and Robert Costa, described an agitated and infuriated Trump, who was trying desperately to avoid the worst subject to him: Russia.

In the fourth paragraph, an anonymous source was mentioned. Trump was ready to fire the "sanctimonious" Comey. (Isn't that too big a word for Trump to use?)

"Trump summoned the two of them [Attorney General Jeff Sessions and newly appointed Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein] to the White House for a meeting, according to a person close to the White House," stated the article.

The president gave the two Justice Department officials a directive, said the article: to explain in writing the case against Comey.

"The pair quickly fulfilled the boss’s orders, and the next day Trump fired Comey — a breathtaking move that thrust a White House already accustomed to chaos into a new level of tumult, one that has legal as well as political consequences," the four repoters wrote.

Democracy dies in daylight

Democracy dies in daylight

Tatiana Prophet
National Security

By TATIANA PROPHET

Democracy dies in darkness. And wars begin in the light of day.

The first sentence is the new motto of the Washington Post. The second, a description of what happened in 2002 when the media relied on anonymous sources in or allied with the U.S. government.

"In the last 14 months, Iraq has sought to buy thousands of specially designed aluminum tubes, which American officials believe were intended as components of centrifuges to enrich uranium," wrote Judith Miller and Michael Gordon on September 8, 2002. "American officials said several efforts to arrange the shipment of the aluminum tubes were blocked or intercepted but declined to say, citing the sensitivity of the intelligence, where they came from or how they were stopped.”
 

Rising FOX News star leaves context out of climate picture

Rising FOX News star leaves context out of climate picture

Tatiana Prophet
Media on Climate

By TATIANA PROPHET

Jesse Watters is a rising star at FOX News, especially after the departure of Bill O'Reilly when his show Watters' World moved to weekend prime time. So when he omits context for climate data, he is misleading a huge audience.

Watters has built a reputation for keeping it real, playing the part of an iconoclast in a sea of political correctness. And he gets some things right. But his output on climate change is not elucidating the issue for the average American.

For a few years now, he has been doing word-on-the-street interviews about climate change, asking people how much the global temperature has risen in the last 15 years.

In this year's Earth Day installment, he began the segment with a few statistics.

Crowdgate II: Alternative facts from The New York Times

Crowdgate II: Alternative facts from The New York Times

Tatiana Prophet
Media on Trump

By TATIANA PROPHET

All the news that's fit to print. And some school yard taunts, as well.

On Wednesday, the Times Sports Twitter account tweeted a photo comparison of the crowd size for the New England Patriots' visit to the Trump White House versus the 2015 visit to the Obama White House. While both photos were taken on the steps overlooking the South Lawn, the comparison was wrong; there were 40 support staff members on the steps in 2015, and only players and management in 2017. The tweet was retweeted more than 51,000 times, and remains up. But it's now clear that the Times jumped the gun in its eagerness to perhaps duplicate that magical image from the inauguration that garnered so much derision for the new president.

Trump's angry weekend: CNN? Or People magazine?

Trump's angry weekend: CNN? Or People magazine?

Tatiana Prophet
Media on Trump

The headlines were all over the web on Sunday: Trump explodes in anger at his staff, “sources” said, over Jeff Sessions' recusal from the Russia investigation as well as a number of other frustrating issues.

The story, which metastasized to every major outlet here and across the pond, appears to have originated on Saturday with this CNN report, "Trump angry and frustrated at staff over Sessions fallout."

"Nobody has seen him that upset," CNN quotes an anonymous source as saying. Trump himself is even "quoted" in the story, as relayed to CNN by "another source,” according to whom the president said: “The staff fumbled.”

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