Consumers used to get their news from newspapers, magazines and evening broadcasts from the three television networks. Now, with the Internet, cable TV and 24-hour news networks, the news cycle is faster and more constant, with every minute carrying a new deadline. But clearly more news and more news outlets are not necessarily better. And just because the press has the ability to cover a story doesn't always mean they should -- or that they'll do it well.
Howard Kurtz has been The Washington Post's media reporter since 1990. He is also the host of CNN's "Reliable Sources" and the author of "Media Circus," "Hot Air," "Spin Cycle" and "The Fortune Tellers: Inside Wall Street's Game of Money, Media and Manipulation." Kurtz talks about the press and the stories of the day in "Media Backtalk."
The transcript follows.
Editor's Note: Washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Live Online discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions.
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Greenbelt, Md.:
Hi--
I would like to compliment the Washington Post for their coverage of the Vice President's appearance on television yesterday.
The Vice President made several interesting statements during his appearance with regard to the links between Iraq and 9/11.
According to Slate.com, the Post was the only major newspaper to check the veracity of the Vice President's claims.
The other major newspapers, LA Times, NY Times, and USA Today, simply reported what the Vice President said.
Thank you. An intelligent and active press is an important part of our democracy.
Howard Kurtz: Checking the veracity of what public officials say is the essence of our job, as I see it. Sometimes hard to do with skeleton staffs on Sunday. But a story that just says Cheney said X, Y and Z is basically a press release.
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Silver Spring, Md.:
Mr. Kurtz: Why don't newspapers and television news programs (besides PBS) do a better job of identifying the political leanings of think-tanks and research centers, especially in the health-care arena? Media outlets define politicians by their political party. You do a good job identifying think-tanks like the Heritage Foundation as conservative or right-leaning. But when it comes to healthcare research, I think this gets egregiously overlooked. Many of the most prominent research organizations, such as the Kaiser Family Foundation, take funding from what would indisputably be called left-leaning foundations and grant-makers. Their research often carries a hint of anti-industry language, to assuage their funders. This research is carried prominently by your paper and others. But wouldn't the reading public be better served, and wouldn't it be most fair, to more correctly identify these organizations and their funding sources? Your comments are appreciated. Thanks.
Howard Kurtz: I think we have to be careful about labels. Heritage describes itself as conservative, so that one's easy. People for the American Way is obviously a liberal group. Most of what I see from Kaiser in our paper is surveys, rather than arguments pushing a particular point of view. I haven't examined Kaiser well enough to know whether it has a left-of-center approach or not. I do favor reporting where such groups get the bulk of their funding, and let readers decide whether they have a slant.
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Philadelphia, Pa.:
Why do you think that Bob Graham hasn't taken off in this campaign? He has four things that the Democrats need; a moderate, a southerner, from a crucial state; and has national security credentials. On paper, he should be blowing Howard Dean; a northeastern liberal with little foreign policy experience away. Yet Dean is the front-runner. How serious are these Democrats looking at electability?
Howard Kurtz: Umm...he's too boring? The thing about elections is that they aren't won on paper. If they were, Dean would be an asterisk. But he's gone out and shown passion and is drawing huge crowds and lots of money. I can't quite figure out what Bob Graham's message is, and his campaign and debate appearances don't seem very focused. Even some Florida reporters I've talked to are puzzled about the drift of his campaign.
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Fairfax, Va.:
Can you answer an inside baseball type question regarding the 'instantaneous footage' phenomenon that often amazes me when watching interview oriented TV shows? Not long ago on Reliable Sources, you were interviewing someone regarding the Kobe Bryant rape case and the guest happened to mention basketball superstar Alan Iverson. Within a second, video of Iverson in action appeared on the screen. How did your production staff pull this off without knowing in advance that Iverson's name would be brought up?
Howard Kurtz: I can't remember in that particular case whether I told the staff in advance that I'd probably be asking a question about Iverson. But cable these days is very into showing footage (or B-roll, as it's called) of the topics being discussed, since apparently pictures of panelists talking are deemed too dull. So the staff of my show prepares footage of people or topics that may come up and rolls some of it into the show as we're talking. If the show is taped, some of this can be done after the fact.
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Owensboro, Ky.:
Howard--Did you see this? CNN reporter Christiane Amanapour stated this weekend that Fox News drove a culture of fluff journalism during the major combat operations--she referred to the push to tone down coverage coming from the "administration and its foot soldiers at Fox News." A Fox spokeswoman responded, "Given the choice, it's better to be viewed as a foot soldier for Bush than a spokeswoman for al-Qaeda."
Come on, are those the only choices? When Ted Koppel said that a broader depiction of devastation needed to be shown for greater context, was he really shilling for Osama bin Laden? Are your colleagues Dana Priest and Vernon Loeb Taliban agents simply because they do their jobs well? Is that what discourse has come to in this country?
Howard Kurtz: Well, obviously those aren't the only two choices. The part I don't fully understand involves not Fox News but the administration allegedly applying pressure to tone down coverage. I'm not aware of such pressure, though Rummy and General Myers did criticize the negative coverage in the early days of the war. What we're talking about here, if the war coverage was in fact toned down, is somewhere between self-restraint and self-censorship, driven in part by fear of being seen by the public as somehow unpatriotic. And a news organization can't blame that on anyone else.
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Virginia:
Howie - Not to help Al Franken sell books or anything, but I think he's absolutely correct in his contention that the right lies and nobody calls them on it. Just yesterday on your show, for a (small) example, a clip showed Schwarzenegger and O'Reilly whining that Arnold doesn't get enough coverage by the LA Times. An utter fabrication, as you proved with your analysis. Where is the outrage here?
Howard Kurtz: I was surprised that Schwarzenegger made the charge since, according to my guest Mark Barabak, an L.A. Times reporter, Arnold called the paper's editor John Carroll awhile back and complimented the coverage. But I hardly think it's true that conservative media get a pass on agenda-driven journalism, any more than the liberal media do. There are lots of critics out there on both sides, of which Franken is the latest example.
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Bethesda, Md.:
Dear Mr. Kurtz,
Now that there is a tape of bin Laden praising the 9/11 attacks and the terrorists responsible by name, has the Arab or Western media gone back to reassess whether the predominant view of Arabs still remains that 9/11 was an Israeli/Jewish conspiracy? Thanks.
Howard Kurtz: Not that I know of.
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Arlington, Va.: FCC Rules 'Howard Stern' Meets Standard Of a News Show (Post, Sept. 10)
Your comments please?
Howard Kurtz: I didn't have any problem with that ruling. Although Stern usually talks about sex and celebrities (in that order), he has interviewed politicians over the years. In fact, he helped make Christie Whitman governor of New Jersey in 1993, and in return got a rest stop named after him on the New Jersey Turnpike. I don't want the government deciding whether Howard Stern or Don Imus or Jon Stewart or David Letterman is enough of a "journalist" to be exempt from the equal-time rule. All the decision means is that Stern doesn't have to have the other 134 candidates for California governor on his show.
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New York City, N.Y.:
I'm curious as to your reaction to the new HBO series, K Street. I'm as close to being an all-politics, all the time junkie, but frankly I was bored to tears. On top of that, maybe yet another Hollywood advert for the Democrat Party every week is just one too many for me.
washingtonpost.com: Beltway Hall of Mirrors (washingtonpost.com, Sept. 15)
Howard Kurtz: My reaction is in this morning's online column. I can't be totally objective because I know several people in the show and, in fact, was watching it with Carville and Begala at this HBO party. But I thought it was an intriguing mixture of Beltway fact and fiction that did have a very insider feel. I'm fascinated by the idea of these guys crashing the show each week to keep it on the news. K Street needs to be more plot-driven in future episodes, but I'm willing to give it a little time. Whether it become a cult hit or a flop, I have no idea.
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Saint Louis, Mo.:
Zogby puts out a poll showing President Bush's approval ratings hitting a new low and it's reported everywhere.
Zogby puts out a poll showing very positive views by Iraqis of their future and of the U.S. -- Cheney even mentions it on Meet the Press -- and its nowhere.
What gives?
Howard Kurtz: I didn't see that second poll - perhaps proving your point. But the Zogby numbers on Bush being at 45 percent were not that widely picked up. Several other recent media polls, which put the president between 50 and 55 percent, have gotten more attention. I also wonder, as a matter of professional curiosity, how hard it is to poll Iraqis, since the country often seems to lack electricity and I doubt everyone has a phone.
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Washington, D.C.:
Mr. Kurtz,
I'll watch Meet the Press again, but I won't ever take Tim Russert quite as seriously after his fatuous performance yesterday with VP Dick Cheney. Russert is often championed by his peers (including you) as being tough, fair, and above all, prepared. Yet if he challenged Cheney once on any of his many mis-statements, exaggerations, evasions, or outright lies, I must have been napping. Cheney went on so long without even coming up for air, let alone being interrupted for a "what!?" that it should have been called "Where's the Press?" No wonder Cheney surfaces every six months to play softball with Russert.
Luckily, Dana Milbank and Walter Pincus help correct the record in today's Post.
Howard Kurtz: I did not get a chance to see the interview. But I do know there's a partisan reaction to many of these programs -- that is, people who don't like the administration say Russert wasn't tough enough on Cheney, while people who like Dean say Russert was too prosecutorial with him.
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New York, N.Y.:
Howard,
Re "Reliable Sources:" The very first question you asked Ed Gordon, Contributing Editor or "Savoy" Magazine and a questioner himself during a recent Democratic presidential debate, was, "Did you come to that debate with an agenda?" He answered "No." But, one minute later, in answer to another question, Gordon said, "Well, I think that there are certain agendas that we all have."
How do you think he reconciled those two answers? Or, do you think, he was just caught off-guard by your initial question, and was a bit more relaxed a couple of questions later?
Howard Kurtz: I think you hit it on the head. I was questioning him about the heavy focus at the Black Caucus debate in Baltimore last week on questions about minorities, and whether that was appropriate. Once he relaxed a bit, he made the argument that sure, he and the other black journalists had an agenda, meaning that they wanted to force the Democratic candidates to answer the kinds of questions they're not usually asked at such gatherings.
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Virginia:
When political reporting will be hotter? After the conventions or one week before the elections?
Howard Kurtz: Both are pretty hot periods. A week before Election Day is usually the most intense period -- that is, if the election is close.
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Washington, D.C.:
I noticed on "This Week" yesterday that George Will was credited as a "historian" on Iraq (Which, despite my dislike of his political views, is an area he could blow me out of the water).
Not surprisingly, his view was that things are not so bad in Iraq, and that the few bad things could get better. Why no mention that he had encouraged and strongly supported the war in his column?
Howard Kurtz: George Will is on that show because he has a point of view. He's a columnist who's paid for his opinions. So agree or disagree, you're getting the Will take on any question that comes up. And it's hardly a secret that he's a conservative -- just as it's no secret that Stephanopoulos used to work for Clinton.
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Colchester, Vt.:
In your story today, "The Scribes of Buzz", you discuss the political reporters "who help shape perceptions of who's up and who's down in the 2004 contest." However, I wish political reporters were judged more of the quality of their insights and the accuracy of their analysis than on their influence in shaping perceptions. It may be more uncomfortable to report on, but it's a lot more meaningful.
On that score, I would rate John Harwood of The Wall Street Journal far higher than Adam Nagourney, who has always seemed a late-to-the-party fount of conventional wisdom. Ah, Howard, take the plunge and tell us what you really think.
Howard Kurtz: I think they all missed the rise of Dean, as I said. But I've known Adam Nagourney since he was a New York tabloid reporter and he is very sharp. For instance, his story on whether John Edwards might drop out changed the nature of the coverage and added to the pressure that led Edwards to abandon his Senate reelection. But as Nagourney told me, he tries to be cautious when wielding the power of the New York Times.
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Re: Owensboro:
Do you think that TV coverage of the Vietnam War gradually turned Americans against that war? It was the first war to receive full-scale treatment by TV news. I suspect that both Bush administrations (GWHB and GWB) believe that the American people have no stomach for televised, unbiased war coverage. As if the only way we would support military action is if journalists abandon their professional standards and turn into cheerleaders. That's insulting.
Howard Kurtz: I do believe that media coverage in general helped turn the public against Vietnam. But you have to give the Bush administration this much: its officials created the embedding program that allowed hundreds of journalists to report from the front lines in Iraq, and while there was plenty of cheerleading, some of those stories, particularly about friendly fire incidents and the killing of civilians, were quite negative.
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Kingstowne, Va.:
Mr. Kurtz, your column today touched on, but failed to adequately condemn, the absurd pack journalism mentality of anointing front-runners and also-rans before a single vote has been cast. At this point in the contest, the politcal reportage consists of little more than the campaign beat reporters talking to each other at hotel bars and such and then reporting their own musings as "trends." Indeed, to say that such reporters "move the buzz meter" is laughable. How many voters in Iowa and New Hampshire give a hoot what Ron Brownstein or "The Note" think about anything?
washingtonpost.com: The Scribes of Buzz: They're All Antennae (Post, Sept. 15)
Howard Kurtz: The insiders -- including most party activists -- do care. And when you say I "failed to adequately condemn" the notion of anointing front-runners, I've been harping on that issue for several elections now. Media-designated front-runners going back to Ed Muskie in '72 have faltered in the heat of a campaign. But my approach, rather than pounding people over the head, is to lay out my case and let smart readers decide.
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Raleigh, N.C.:
Hello:
Enjoyed your comments on the ratios of favorable/unfavorable TV media stories on George Bush during the past period. To me, it demonstrates a certain pack mentality among reporters to all write about the same thing about the same person or event.
I suspect that this happens through the competitive nature of the business. But, do you feel it exists WITHIN an organization as well, particularly the major TV networks, or do editors and producers have a significant amount of influence on what gets shown?
Howard Kurtz: I don't see a particular pressure to conform to a certain point of view within each news organization. But the pack mentality is broader than that. It develops because lots of journalists see lots of other journalists and political insiders saying X, everyone they talk to at parties says X, and eventually the conventional wisdom becomes obvious: It's X. Until reality unfolds and it becomes clear that X isn't the case at all, which spawns a new conventional wisdom.
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Gambrills, Md.:
I agree there is a partisan reaction to "Meet the Press" and that is because it is such an influential show.
After the Dean interview, there were a lot of articles in the press critiquing Dean's and Russert's performance. Have there been any articles yet critiquing Cheney's performance in a similar vein? (Other than the good analysis today in the Post?) Also, do you plan on watching the interview and offering an analysis?
Howard Kurtz: I'll try if I have time. But keep in mind that the interview was only yesterday. It often takes an extra day or two for reporters to do more digging, or columnists to weigh in, or political rivals to challenge Cheney (or whoever the guest of the moment might be). I suspect we haven't heard the last of this controversy over the vice president's remarks.
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Gaithersburg, Md.:
The administration has always been quite cynical in manipulating it's coverage. What is the strategy behind Ashcrofts' refusal to talk to print journalists. Is it the administrations hope that TV journalists can't cover a complex issue in 90 second spots, or is the core constituency of Bush those people who don't read anyway?
Howard Kurtz: The strategy is that you don't get the same kind of tough questions from local TV reporters -- especially when you limit them to three or four minutes, as the attorney general is doing -- as in sitting down with beat reporters or seasoned local reporters who are going to challenge what you say. Ashcroft's spokeswoman made quite clear in my column today that Justice officials consider some of the print coverage biased and would prefer to have Ashcroft offer his sound bites directly -- "unfiltered" is the preferred term -- to the local cameras.
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New Bern, N.C.:
Mr. Kurtz I saw you on CNN with Aaron Brown a few days ago. You were discussing the number of wounded in Iraq and as I understood your comments you were saying that the Pentagon is not making the totals readily available. I have been sending to all the major networks asking them why they do not present the total number of wounded when they give the totals of military individuals killed. I am referring to the totals killed since the Iraq war began and the totals since President Bush said the conflict was over. I think the American people should be aware of the total cost of the war as to the number of military individuals killed and wounded.
If the government is not making this information available, why is the media not pressing them? Are the press and television media afraid of offending the government and losing their cooperation?
Thank you
Howard Kurtz: I think a more likely explanation is passivity. That segment was prompted by a front-page Washington Post story by Vernon Loeb that listed the wounded figures during the war and since May 1. The Pentagon doesn't put out press releases on wounded soldiers or post the information on its Web site. Instead, a reporter has to call up U.S. Central Command and request the information. Why more reporters haven't done that is hard for me to understand, given the importance of the continuing carnage in Iraq.
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Jacksonville, Fla.:
Mr. Kurtz --
Tim Russert merely provided a forum for Dick Cheney to recite the administration's line on Iraq. Russert is a favorite of the Republicans. Your response that Russert is criticized by both sides is a cop out. Thank you for taking my comment, Mr. Kurtz.
Howard Kurtz: Well, that would surprise Russert, a former Democratic strategist who worked for Mario Cuomo and Pat Moynihan.
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St. Louis, Mo.:
So, what you are saying is, once again Ashcroft is circumventing a free exchange of ideas?
Howard Kurtz: The attorney general has decided on a certain press strategy in defending the USA Patriot Act, and that's his right. He has no constitutional obligation to talk to reporters. But it's very telling about the state of relations between Justice and the media that John Ashcroft doesn't think he can get a fair shake from newspapers and magazines.
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Kansas City, Mo.:
Do the top tier reporters really think they
don't drive the coverage of campaigns?
I've heard Gore associates say that other
press told them that when they tried to
write something other than the traditional
"script" pushed by the Times/Post their
editors got upset at them.
Howard Kurtz: Well, their editors shouldn't discourage independent thinking by their reporters. But the fact is that the NYT, WP, LAT and WSJ have an awful lot of influence when it comes to political reporting.
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McLean, Va.:
Howard, regarding your column today. Do you think that when the media political elites push a candidate early-on it can have a negative effect? Almost a backlash against the anointed "front-runner," especially with the Democratic candidates where the base is very independent thinking?
Howard Kurtz: If a candidate is seen as being the choice of the establishment, including the media establishment, that can turn some people off and increase the desire for an underdog who upsets the applecart. That's why you see surprises in places like New Hampshire, with George Bush Sr. barely fending off a challenge from Pat Buchanan and W. being upended by John McCain. The front-runner designation is always a mixed blessing, as ex-underdog Howard Dean is starting to find out, because it brings many extra layers of scrutiny.
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Greenbelt, Md.:
Several members of this administration -- in particular Chaney and Rummy -- are very agressive and outright mean to the press. They often imply that anyone questioning them are idiots or missing facts (when they are often the ones who are wrong). Does this ever tick off the press? How do they retain their composure while being called stupid? I know, on more than one occasion, I would be throwing punches.
Howard Kurtz: I wouldn't say Cheney and Rummy are "mean" to reporters, but they're both aggressive public officials. I know some Pentagon reporters weren't thrilled at having Rumsfeld belittle their questions and chide them at those war briefings. But hey, it comes with the territory. If you can't handle a contentious relationship with the people you cover, you shouldn't be in the journalism biz.
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Crystal City, Va.:
How can those in the media always spot right-wing bias, while arguing with a straight face that there is not a liberal slant to most of the other major media outlets? For example, USA Today quotes CNN's Amanpour: "I think the press was muzzled, and I think the press self-muzzled. I'm sorry to say, but certainly television and, perhaps, to a certain extent, my station was intimidated by the administration and its foot soldiers at Fox News."
Howard Kurtz: I don't think Amanpour is arguing that there isn't a liberal tilt to some news organizations. I think she's saying her own was somewhat intimidated in its war coverage.
Thanks for the chat, folks.
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