The Remmys Dysfunctional Media Award Nominations: MAGA Meat, Sartorial Slander, and Vatican Violations

It is time for a new round of nominations for nefarious news nonsense! In recognizing the efforts of the unprofessional press, journalistic sloth, and deserved media mockery, we nominate the efforts for end-of-the-year honors. To commemorate the past of muckraking reporting and shoe leather investigation, we have created The Golden Remington Awards. Our trophy honors the olden days when hard-scrabble hacks committed actual journalism and hammered out dispatches on those hefty wordsmith devices.

Regularly, we compile some of the most fractured examples of journalism, nominating them for the un-coveted dishonor of “winning” our un-distinguished Remmy Award. At the end of the year, we recognize the greats by gathering examples in a number of categories and judiciously choosing the deserving performances. Here are the latest nominees for The Remmys, starting with a share of Easter mayhem..

Distinguished Breaking News

Liam Archaki - The Daily Beast

“An embarrassing gaffe”

“A glaring faux pas”

“He broke one of the most notorious Vatican rules”

These were the hysterical assessments from Archaki regarding VP JD Vance because of a photograph of him holding his son as he looked up at the Sistine Chapel. It sure sounds like this was a severe violation of Catholic protocols!
Then the very same article provided entirely disqualifying evidence of the bleating in the headlines and text.

A source close to the situation told the Daily Beast that the Vatican gave special permission for the photographer in question to take pictures inside the Sistine Chapel.

It is difficult to find a more entertainingly ridiculous entry than when a news report debunks itself.

JD Vance is being slammed online after he broke one of the most notorious Vatican rules during his Easter weekend visit. https://t.co/oLi4qmxDrY
— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) April 22, 2025

Distinguished National Reporting

Korsha Wilson - New York Times

This was a remarkable dose of reporting for various reasons. First, this is a claim that does not appear to be backed by anything substantive; the only tangible evidence this was occurring is that some people on TikTok were posting videos on how to dye potatoes, if you have challenges getting eggs.

But the other reason this was a farce is that the cost of eggs had fallen to levels seen last spring, and a point lower than when Trump took office in January.

https://t.co/pLcvBqcWHg pic.twitter.com/g0CbelPzf1
— Democrats (@TheDemocrats) April 21, 2025

Distinguished Photojournalism

Alex Brandon - Associated Press

Framing political figures is a favorite side venture for photographers. Consider how frequently during the Obama years we would see him photographed at angles where background images would have him portrayed with a halo effect. Well Mr. Brandon decided to go in a different direction.

During the White House Easter Egg Roll, he moved into position to get President Trump shown with bunny ears, conveniently enough.

The @AP makes a decision to get some photographic revenge. pic.twitter.com/hnvSGHKB2I
— Lie-Able Sources (@LieAbleSources) April 21, 2025

Distinguished Cultural Criticism

Dave Smith - Fortune

There was a brief uproar in the media when it was shown that President Trump was seen in a blue suit at the funeral of Pope Francis. Fortune Magazine jump-started this shriekfest by showing the president as the lone person in blue, yet this was a complete sham. A wide angle of the same image showed how numerous attendees were also in blue, but Fortune ran their cropped photo to imply something else.

Most amusing was once it was pointed out that former President Biden was also on the scene in a navy blazer, the revisionist reporting began. Note how this one men’s fashion expert moved from a firm “only black” declaration to then excuse President Silveralert as appropriate in dark blue, but Trump was still offensive because of a lighter hue.

HOAX: If you heard anything about the Pope's funeral from the drive-by media you heard that Trump thumbed his nose at the Vatican by wearing a blue and not a black suit. Everyone from the Prince of Wales to Joe Biden wore a blue suit - the only way I know this is because of 𝕏. pic.twitter.com/NbPRPOARGU
— @amuse (@amuse) April 27, 2025

Distinguished Feature Writing

Keziah Weir - Vanity Fair

We have never understood the compulsion in the press to find a rather mundane activity in the culture performed by many and try to attach a nefarious approach to it because certain people from unacceptable far-right enclaves are engaged in it. We have been told, for instance, that working out is a totalitarian practice, or that wearing Hawaiian shirts is a form of white supremacy. Now comes the latest claim that defies everything from shame to common sense.

Vanity Fair is now telling us that consuming protein is an indicator that someone is MAGA. Making this claim ironclad is the fact that we see the examples of this coming from those notable MAGA news outlets, the New York Times, Vogue Magazine, and The New Yorker.

It is obvious this desperate @VanityFair tripe attempting to demonize protein intake is stupid to the core, but one segment makes it all the dumber.
The entire piece blames a “new” pro-protein “trend” on MAGA, then cites a number of links to leftist publications.
Pure comedy. pic.twitter.com/m70fBOT8zM
— Brad Slager: CNN+ Lifetime Subscriber (@MartiniShark) May 4, 2025

The Silver Ricecake Platter for Content-free Reporting (Sponsored by Quaker)

Nika Shakhnazarova - New York Post

We still cannot fathom why anyone cares a whit what Prince and his bride are doing, but there is apparently enough interest to justify covering them. That said, would it be too much to ask that you have something substantive to report?

We get the lowdown…for some reason…that Prince Hank and his wife Meghan have nicknames for each other. They are “H” and “M”, we are told, and we are provided details about what this mystery means. Hopefully this exposé can lead to another cipher seen on Megan’s new home style show – maybe we can learn the secret message behind the cryptically-named “P.B.& J. sandwiches” that she crafted!

Meghan Markle reveals why she and Prince Harry call each other ‘M’ and ‘H’ https://t.co/7jeJOZtrKk pic.twitter.com/038tOuydeT
— New York Post (@nypost) April 29, 2025

Distinguished Cultural Commentary

Misty White Sidell – New York Times

It is always fun when we see cloistered journalists daring to leave their insulated bubbles and venture out into the world of the common man, behaving as if they are like Jane Goodall in the jungles and making discoveries. Here we have the paper’s “shopping and fashion” correspondent noticing the hot new “trend” to come across her field of vision.

It is rather obvious that Ms. Sidell has very little exposure to evangelicals in her daily life as she details that this “new” fashion feature exploding across the landscape involves Christians wearing necklaces with a cross pendant.