Off-Air Video: Reporter’s Freak-Out to Swift-Kelce Engagement in Front of WH Shows How Unserious Today’s Media Is

Well, it’s finally happened. If all goes as planned, my go-to dad joke has changed from “The Kansas City Chiefs will be the first NFL dynasty to be the subject of a hit breakup song” to “Taylor Swift’s next breakup-related hit will be the first one to cost her money.”

Yes, in case you haven’t heard — and really, if not, get off dial-up internet — Tay Tay and her boyfriend, Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, are officially engaged after dating for 2 years or so (rough estimate).

“Your English teacher and your gym teacher are getting married,” Swift wrote in a post on Instagram, which — in addition to being kind of cute — is also apparently a Swiftie in-joke I won’t bother you with.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post d by Taylor Swift (@taylorswift)

So, congratulations to Swift and Kelce, and just a reminder to Taylor: Sure, he may be a Chiefs tight end, but that doesn’t exactly bring home “Shake It Off” money, so think twice before you divorce. That’s a break-up song that’ll end up costing you a fortune if the prenup isn’t settled correctly.

That’s the correct way to respond to this if you’re a thinking human being not related to Swift or Kelce directly. I suppose if you’re in unserious media, like TMZ or the Swiftie social media bubble, feel free to gush a little bit more, but let’s stay civilized.

Meanwhile, on the other end of the spectrum, here’s a CBS News correspondent outside the White House having what appears to be a seizure of some sort and saying she feels as if she’s “Paul Revere right now” while on camera:

NEW: CBS reporter Olivia Rinaldi freaks out after finding out that Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce got engaged, says she feels like “Paul Revere right now.”

Rinaldi was caught on camera saying ‘OMG’ 10 times after finding out about the engagement.

Marriage rates are about to… pic.twitter.com/H0SHF3isyq

— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) August 26, 2025

Olivia Rinaldi, a former associate producer with “CBS Evening News with Norah O’Donnell” and an investigative reporter, was one of the people covering President Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign for the network.

After that, she transferred to White House reporting work for the network that once was home to these titans:

In an instant, everything changed. Fifty-six years ago Walter Cronkite broke the news… “From Dallas, Texas, the flash, apparently official, President Kennedy died at 1PM Central Standard Time” pic.twitter.com/Oo7USJP07L

— Larry Sabato (@LarrySabato) November 22, 2019

Edward R. Murrow’s powerful anti-McCarthy broadcast is as relevant now as it was 71 years ago.

Have a listen. pic.twitter.com/5Ko7uIRLkX

— Lincoln Square (@LincolnSquareHQ) June 13, 2025

I may not agree with the implied or explicit politics of Messrs. Cronkite or Murrow. However, we’ve come a long way, baby, from those giants to:

“Oh, it’s huge! The ring is ginormous! This is so exciting! Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God! It’s on her Instagram, it’s on her Instagram, it’s on her Instagram! Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God, oh my God, oh my God. I feel like Paul Revere right now! Like, I, …!”

People who have this kind of reaction to events that do not involve them do not usually pass field sobriety tests.

Look, marriage is great. So is the music of Taylor Swift. The Chiefs … well, the music of Taylor Swift is great. And apparently, the Massive Vibe Shift of 2024 might indeed make a married woman out of a childless cat lady for Kamala. Kudos to that.

However, for a CBS reporter to react like that while caught on camera then go on air and gush about it brings to mind another speech of Mr. Murrow’s that you might remember the David Strathairn’s depiction of in “Good Night, and Good Luck” — the famous “Wires and Lights In a Box” address.

Strathairn’s version:

The full quotes from Edward R. Murrow’s famous 1958 address that I think apply here: “Our history will be what we make it. And if there are any historians about 50 or 100 years from now, and there should be preserved the kinescopes for one week of all three networks, they will there find recorded in black and white, or perhaps in color, evidence of decadence, escapism and insulation from the realities of the world in which we live.”

“I began by saying that our history will be what we make it. If we go on as we are, then history will take its revenge, and retribution will not limp in catching up with us.”

“This instrument can teach, it can illuminate; yes, and even it can inspire. But it can do so only to the extent that humans are determined to use it to those ends. Otherwise, it’s nothing but wires and lights in a box.”

There’s the man the media venerates — because he’s useful at the moment, naturally, or at any moment a non-Democrat was ensconced at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. They seem to ignore that, according to the man himself, they’re working against us and against informing the public, as per their job — and some of the time, they don’t even realize it.

You may remember that “Good Night, and Good Luck” was used as a tool to highlight the McCarthyism of, um, the Dubya years; both Bush and Dick Cheney are now looked upon as The Kind of Republicans Democrats Like™. Funny how that works.

Funny, too, how people forget to use Ed Murrow for something other than totemic value and actually listen to the man’s words once in a while.

But OMG seriously, you guys. OMG OMG OMG. Did you see the size of that ring?! It’s on Instagram! It’s really on Instagram! This moment — I feel like a combination of Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and Ed Murrow just reporting it right now! Three of the greatest founding fathers! Murrow was like, president, right? Or was he Franklin’s veep?

Anyway, back to you in the studio, via some wires and lights in that camera thingy recording me.

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