Media top headlines January 31
In media news today, MSNBC deleted a tweet slamming conservatives for favoring affirmative action when it benefits them, a top Democratic lawyer suggests courts revisit a landmark First Amendment case, and Bill Maher rips the left’s silence on ‘goofy s---‘ from their side.
The New York Times was among the left-leaning outlets to pen urgent pieces on crime in New York City following the tragic deaths of two police officers in the line of duty.
The NYPD's Jason Rivera, 22, and Wilbert Mora, 27, were killed in the line of duty earlier this month. Moving images from New York over the weekend captured thousands of police officers coming out to honor their fallen friend Rivera. Thousands are also expected to honor Mora's memory as he is laid to rest on Tuesday.
READ THE FULL TEXT OF DOMINIQUE RIVERA'S EULOGY FOR HER HUSBAND
Critics have ripped the mainstream media for not doing enough to expose the surge in crime throughout the country in recent months. Murder and theft have become prevalent in the Big Apple as criminals have become more brazen. Transit crime is up 65.5% so far this year compared to 2021, according to NYPD statistics.
Many were skeptical of the Times' timing after they published a piece last week entitled, "The Right Way to Stop Rising Crime in New York." The editors argue, in part, for New York to "make the city safer without reverting to the overpolicing, especially in Black and Latino communities, seen under previous mayors."
Former D.C. police detective and Fox News contributor Ted Williams said the editorial was "dead wrong" on this point.
"The newspaper article…is wrong. It is dead wrong," Williams told Fox News Digital. "You need to flood the neighborhoods with more police officers, not less police officers." He mused that law-abiding citizens in ravaged communities would agree.
As a means of putting the Defund the Police movement behind them, Williams said New York should recruit more police officers and help to establish a "rapport" between officers and community leaders.
"You have to have a trust with community leaders in order to bring down crime," he said.
Seattle-based radio show host Jason Rantz also took issue with the Times' conclusions, accusing them of publishing a "lazy" and "delayed" editorial.
"It’s a lazy editorial that leans on very far left concepts about policing," Rantz told Fox News Digital. "It leans into what I think is just really offensive stereotypes."
Rantz agreed with Williams that the city needs to boost its police presence.
"To be clear, police target the neighborhoods where there’s the most crime," Rantz said. Sending police he said, "actually helps protect the Black and Latino victims of the crime."
(Bloomfield Division of Public Safety via Storyful)
"I believe the New York Times editorial rings hollow," Thomas Mungeer, NYS Trooper and President of the NYS Troopers PBA, said. "While there are alternatives to help reduce crime besides putting boots on the ground, the best way to tamp down on crime is to place your law enforcement resources in the areas and/or communities that are most affected. That should be a colorless analysis – where are the citizens being victimized by the criminals?"
Rantz mused that the outlet's "delayed reaction" to the crime wave wasn't surprising given their assumed ideology.
"There’s of course a delayed reaction to the rise in crime because generally speaking editorial board members, writers of the New York Times support the very policies I think are responsible for the rise in crime in the city," Rantz argued.
Those "lazy talking points," he later explained, are how "police are actually the problem," and "it’s systemic racism and institutional racism within these institutions of oppression."
Rantz said it was "a sad state of affairs" that he "talks more" about the crime in New York or Chicago or L.A. than most of the national outlets.
The editorial board's proposed solutions included more funding for community anti-violence groups, urging Washington to enact "common sense gun laws," and working to build a "mental health infrastructure."
Former New York mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa had qualms with the Times' suggestions, saying the editorial glossed over the paper's past.
"The New York Times was in favor of the No Bail Law and Defunding the Police and Prisons," Sliwa told Fox News Digital. "How did that work out? They have not changed their position on that."
Mayor Eric Adams speaks during a press conference by Brooklyn DA Eric Gonzalez in the District Attorney's Office on Jan. 4, 2022. (Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)
"As a media Influencer the NYT has led the charge in weakening law enforcement, the courts and jails," he continued.
The disturbing crime waves across the nation have also begun to be spotlighted by other outlets, a few of whom have focused on what it will mean for Mayor Eric Adams and Democrats at large if he can't get a handle on New York City. Adams painted himself as the anti-Bill de Blasio during his campaign, pledging to be tough on crime. Daily Beast senior editor Harry Siegel warned if Adams does not deliver, Democrats will be "toast" in upcoming elections.
The New Yorker ran with the headline, "What the Killing of Two N.Y.P.D. Officers Means for New York," from writer Eric Lach, who also argued that Mayor Adams faces a real "test."
"The test for Adams is whether he can deliver on what he promised New Yorkers who voted for him: curbing the recent spike in shootings in the city while balancing police tactics against the rights of poor minority communities," he wrote.
Lach also wondered if the crime wave meant New York was reverting to New York's violent days of the 1980s and 90s.
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Williams said this weekend’s heavily attended memorial for Rivera and Tuesday’s upcoming memorial for Mora will show that the two young men did not die in vain.
"The seas of blue that showed from all over the country told the story that these were two heroes that are well, well respected," Williams said. "And even in their death, for the job that they did for the members of their community. And the ultimate sacrifice of giving their lives for their community."
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