Media Backtalk

Howard Kurtz (washingtonpost.com)

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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Philadelphia, Pa.: Hi Howard,

John Kerry has dismissed Howard Dean's criticism of his 1991 Persian Gulf War vote as a negative attack. But has Kerry given any indication of how he plans to immunize himself against the same "negative attack" if he becomes the nominee? Surely its in the Democratic party's interest to deal with this issue now rather then next Fall.

washingtonpost.com: Media Notes: The Rap on Kerry (washingtonpost.com, Jan. 26)

Howard Kurtz: You know, I haven't heard Kerry talk about his '91 Gulf War vote much. His aides now say he wanted to drive Saddam out of Kuwait but objected to Bush Sr.'s timing. I don't consider it a "negative attack" when one candidate points out how another voted on a major war/peace issue.

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Houghton, Mich.: Hello Howard,
According to MoveOn.Org, CBS has declined to run its SuperBowl ad critical of the Bush Adminstriation. MoveOn said that CBS claims the ad is 'too controversial.'

MoveOn asserts that certain FCC rulings are overtly favorable to Fox and CBS, that CBS is a huge GOP contributor, and that this decision re the SuperBowl ad is a case of the Tiffany Network (which, of course, also pulled its Reagan bio-pic) cozying up the Adminstration and the GOP.

So, what's your take on this? Have you seen the ad in question? And what of broadcasters playing footsie with the FCC?

Howard Kurtz: I go through this every two years. Basically, ABC, CBS and NBC don't accept advocacy ads (cable and local stations often do). So when some group gets its ad rejected by ABC, CBS or NBC, it cries foul and political bias and censorship. But everyone in the issues realm is basically shut out. Whether that's a good policy or not is another question.

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Harrisburg, Pa.: If a guy from Massachusetts puts on a uniform and drives a tank, he's a geek. If a guy from Texas puts on a uniform and pilots a plane, he's macho. If a guy from Vermont goes "yeeahh", he's a psycho. If a guy from Texas goes "yeeahh", he's cool. Did I get this correct?

Howard Kurtz: I don't think it would be the finest hour for any candidate, from any state, to engage in what Dean himself has called a "crazy, red-faced rant." But the issue is not so much geography as the narrative the media create for each candidate. Dean has been painted as the angry candidate, and his whooping reinforced that image. The tank ride wounded Dukakis, in a way it might not have, say, John McCain, because he was seen as weak on defense. These images are oversimplified, of course, but they tend to drive the coverage.

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Redmond, Wash.: Aside from the "I have a scream" speech, Dean's campaign continues to be the driving force of news coverage since Iowa. Why is the press soaking up so much air time psychoanalyzing him rather than scrutinizing Kerry as the frontrunner or Edwards and his surge since Iowa? I know way too much about Dean already!

Howard Kurtz: I've been asking exactly that question. The reason, I suppose, is that his spectacular rise and recent decline is just a great human drama and far more colorful than what's happened to Kerry and Edwards. There are starting to be signs that Kerry's front-runner status will be attracting more media scrutiny, but if not the Dean camp has a very legitimate complaint as to why their man was hit with such a sustained barrage of negative headlines and not the current leader in the polls.

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Delmar, N.Y.: Of the five major candidates for the Democratic nomination, I believe only Howard Dean did not make an appearance on any of the Sunday morning news shows (Tim Russert of Meet the Press noted that Dean refused an invitation). Has anyone taken notice of this? While Dean limited his national press appearances, his campaign has mailed out over 100,000 copies of ABC's interview with Dr. and Dr. Dean/Steinberg and the New York Post is reporting that CBS is not happy about it. Does CBS as well as the other networks have proprietary ritghts to the content of their news/interview shows?

Howard Kurtz: I don't know the legal answer to that, and Dean has done some other hard-news interviews recently, such as with George Stephanopoulos and Judy Woodruff. But there's no question he's looking for softer venues right now, such as the Howard & Judy sitdown with Diane Sawyer. This may relate to a recent story I saw saying that Dean is doing much worse among women voters, probably because of the temperament issue.

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Salisbury, N.C. I was amused but also dismayed last Monday to witness the glee with which Chris Matthews and the other commentators on MSNBC immediately jumped on Howard Dean's speech. It struck me as a preview of how the media will attack whoever the Democratic nominee turns out to be, just as they harped upon anything Al Gore said in 2000 that could be twisted into seeming dishonest, even though Gore's statements were accurate if reported honestly and put into context. Do you think the media will jump on everything the Democratic nominee (and front-runner for the nomination, in the meantime) does and says in such a superficial way this time around?

Howard Kurtz: In this case I don't think it had anything to do with Dean being a Democrat. The rant was just plain weird, and it came on a night when Dean had lost big time. Far more damaging than what any pundit said about it is the endless replaying of the tape.

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Sterling, Va.: Second only to media speculation on who is going to win are the predictions of who must drop out if the don't win.

It doesn't sound like the media has done thier homework. NONE of the democratic primary contests are winner take all events.
A candidate only needs 15 percent in a particular state to grab some delgates.

As long as they have some funding, they can keep running. Dean is well funded. Kerry and Edwards are picking up dollars. Clark appears to be looking for a strong California showing. Sharpton may get 15 percent in some states are go to the convention with delgates and speach.

Do you think if the delegates keep getting split three ways between five candidates this could be an open convention?

Howard Kurtz: In my experience there's always talk about an open convention and it never happens. The nomination fight may take awhile, but the major candidates who don't win a single state will be forced to drop out because they'll be deprived of media attention, which devastates fundraising, and a rationale for claiming they can win in November.

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New York, N.Y.: Howard,

Years ago, it was common for a TV reporter assigned to cover a candidate during the primary season to continue such coverage of that person if he was lucky enough to be elected President.

What are the chances these days for such a reporter to move into the White House beat on the coattails of the subject he or she is covering?

Howard Kurtz: It happens all the time, not just in television, because the months of coverage leaves the reporter with the best sources among people who will be running the new administration.

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Philadelphia, Pa.: Howard Dean's rant in Iowa on last Monday has been compared to Michael Dukakis riding in a tank. I was a kid during the 1988 campaign and thus didn't follow it closely. What was the strategy behind Dukakis riding in the tank and why do people talk about it in a negative context?

Howard Kurtz: Dukakis's handlers thought it would be a way of showing he was tough on defense. They put him in a tank with a goofy helmet with his name on it and invited the media to watch as he rode around. The Bush campaign turned it into a campaign ad mocking Dukakis, and it is widely regarded as one of the dumbest stunts in campaign history.

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Towson, Md.: Howie,

Don't you think that reporters should be required to disclose when they use opposition research in an article? When journalists print leaks, they have to include some form of attribution, but most oppo research gets passed on without attribution, as if the journalists did the digging themselves. Back when I was in school, failing to cite sources in a paper was dealt with nearly as harshly as plagiarism. I think this issue is particularly important because 1. oppo research is usually based upon half-truths at best, and many reporters seem to lack the time or inclination to root out the whole story, and 2. candidates shouldn't be allowed to sling mud this way without getting themselves dirty.

Howard Kurtz: Depends on how you define "leaks." Most of the stuff passed on by rival campaigns is public record material, often published articles about this or that controversy. So if a reporter can verify the material himself, he's not necessarily bound to identify who brought it to his attention. But I think it's a good idea to indicate if a line of attack originated with another campaign so readers will have a sense of the tactics being used.

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Chicago, Ill.: Howard,
Good afternoon. Greetings from Chicago, where we've heard of such things as snowplows and salt trucks. I love seeing pictures of my former home -- D.C. -- snowed in.

Anyway, I have a concern about the mainstream medias election coverage. I was watching Tim Russert Sunday and he spent a good 2-3 minutes asking Gen. Clark about the "general vs. the deserter" comment Michael Moore made recently. Then, during the round table, they talked extensively about Dean's Iowa speech. On CNN, after the state of the union, their mid-day anchor (I don't recall his name) spent several minutes asking a couple of pollsters if it was 'appropriate' for Sen. Kennedy to shake his head during parts of the president's speech.

Are these REALLY the burning isssues of the day. It turns my stomach to see how pathetic TV news coverage is. I know there is some good reporting, but for the most part we get non-issue related reporting. What's going on? Why do these reporters and talk show hosts seem loathe to talk about health care, the economy, etc...?

Howard Kurtz: Issues have been virtually abandoned in the past two weeks as the race has been blown wide open. For instance, no one has talked about Dean as the only remaining candidate who would repeal all of Bush's tax cuts and whether that is hurting him. Instead, it's all polls and momentum and screams and the like. Although David Broder and Dan Balz of The Post did devote considerable time to a piece yesterday asking New Hampshire voters what they think.

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Washington, D.C.: Howard--I don't like it, but I've come to accept the local news fixation with weather. All the D.C. area stations were hyping today's 4-inch snow "storm" as far back as last Thursday, when it led off all the newscasts. But I really HATE it when my beloved Washington Post gets into that act. Checking school closings online, there was a front page headline about the snow, with "The Worst Is Yet to Come." Again, this is The Post, not the local news. What's with THAT?

Howard Kurtz: The Post is a local paper, and the storm is the one event that affects every single reader, especially with the school and government closings. I just spent 45 minutes digging out my car, so I'm in that category too. Yes, snow stories get hyped beyond belief, but there's an audience for them.

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Washington, D.C.:: I've seen several media accounts of last week's Democratic debate that reported criticism of Wesley Clark for failing to distance himself from Michael Moore after Moore called Pres. Bush a deserter; these accounts made no mention of why Moore had called Bush a deserter, and did not explain what Moore was referring to (including a Washington washingtonpost.com chat last Friday by FNC's Chris Wallace). Why have some media sources not given their consumers more background information about this incident?

Howard Kurtz: I don't know -- it's not all that difficult to explain that Moore was referring to Bush's apparent disappearance for about a year from the National Guard. He wasn't a "deserter" in the sense that the word implies leaving the front during wartime, but there are questions there that have never been answered. On the other hand, Clark as a presidential candidate should form an opinion on whether it's an unfair charge or not.

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Cleveland, Ohio: Howard, usually by this point in the primary process the media has a favorite horse--someone they are privately rooting for behind the scenes. Do you sense any candidate at this point who has the hearts of the "Boys and Girls" on the bus? And does it matter? Thanks.

Howard Kurtz: Journalists tend to like candidates who give them access. That's why John McCain, who provided round the clock access on his bus, got such a good ride four years ago. This time around reporters loved the Dean story, even though personally many found the doctor rather brusque, but he's really tightened up on access in the last couple of months. So I don't know that there is a media favorite.

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Saginaw, Mich.: Howard:

The Administration and the media essentially dismissed former WMD hunter, Scott Ritter as a loose cannon at best, and traitor at worst, for his contention that Iraq did not have weapons of mass destruction prior to the war. Now that David Kay has essentially said the same thing now that Ritter said then, do you think the issue of how Ritter was treated will or should be revisited by the media?

Howard Kurtz: I think that's a very good point, but I wonder, in the middle of a Democratic campaign, whether anyone will have the time or inclination to do it.

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Phoenix, Ariz.: Howard,

At the last debate Gen. Clark was questioned about Michael Moore's comment about President Bush being a deserter. Peter Jennings implied that it has been investigated and said the charge wasn't true. I thought the Boston paper looked at it and didn't find a definitive answer. Did someone else followup?

Also, Moore's claim was that Pres. Bush was a deserter. I thought he was accused of not showing up, meaning AWOL. Not being a military person, what's the difference?

Howard Kurtz: The Boston Globe did conclude that Bush had not reported for National Guard duty for about a year, but he was never charged with being AWOL and some of the details still aren't clear. "Deserter" is a term that usually connotes leaving the battlefield in time of war.

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Chevy Chase, Md.: Why do the media sheep always focus on one stupid picture or story? Do they think that the population are total idiots? Last week's preoccupation with Howard Dean's scream is a perfect example. You would think that there was no other story worth the pundits' attention.

Howard Kurtz: It was clearly overdone. On the other hand, when I did some random interviews with voters two days later, almost everyone brought it up, without any prompting by me, and said they had been turned off by Dean's histrionics. But, of course, fewer might have been struck by the rant if it hadn't been replayed hundreds of times.

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Philadelphia, Pa.: In one of your books you wrote about the media fascination with Donald Trump, and how they often ignored some of the more controversial things he did because of that. Do you think it's a good idea for NBC to be quite so in bed with him, as it is today?

Howard Kurtz: Seems to me there's nothing hidden about it. NBC is promoting Trump in a reality show -- or at least as close to reality as these staged extravaganzas get -- and Trump, the master, is promoting himself.

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Boston, Mass.: Mr. Kurtz,

Was it just me or did the President's State of teh Union Speech generate very little positive buzz? And as a follow-up, has anyone in the media found out what Mr. Bush did about steroids when he owned a MLB team?

Howard Kurtz: My sense was that it generated little buzz in either direction because it was sandwiched between Iowa and New Hampshire. The speech wasn't especially dramatic--many commentators thought it was flat--and the president made no bold new proposals. The ratings were down substantially from the last two years. So it's hardly surprising that more attention is being paid to the Dean-Kerry-Edwards-Clark slugfest.

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Dayton, Ohio: I'm no Dean lover (registered Republican, actually), but you media people are making far too big a deal of Dean's speech after the Iowa caucus. Just because a couple hundred of you pointy-headed media types think it was too much doesn't mean it was. Talk to some REAL people in flyover country and you'll learn that we all think it just shows that the guy has a pulse. You media elites are waaaaaay off on this one.

Howard Kurtz: Well, as I said, I talked to some real voters in New Hampshire and they seemed to agree with the pointy-heads. I'm not saying it wasn't overplayed, but it came during a period when Dean's support was dropping and therefore became a too-easy shorthand for his decline. In a strange way, though, it may have helped Dean by keeping the media spotlight on him (he got to make fun of his own rant on Letterman, etc.) as opposed to, say, second-place finisher John Edwards.

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Washington, D.C.: First the media annointed Dean the runaway winner, then Kerry was the comeback kid and Dean was in free fall. Now Dean (according to the polls, supposedly) is coming back in New Hampshire. If Dean actually wins New Hampshire, what nicknames are left?

Howard Kurtz: Clueless Correspondents

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Northern Virginia: I don't want to overanalyze the whole Dean rant--as if that's possible at this point.

But haven't there been reports that reporters actually in the room couldn't hear any of Dean's more verbose remarks because of the general din and didn't think anything of note had occurred? Why haven't those reporters been more widely quoted/reported?

I know it looks terrible on tape--especially with the mega-replays--and it's all about the TV image and Dean should know as much. But as you say, it's all about that and issues be damned at the moment.

You're are/were in New Hampshire; do you think most voters will discount the rant heard round the world? Or is Dean toast because of the media critical mass?

(I know; no handicapping! Love the column!)

Howard Kurtz: I've talked to reporters who were in the room and they say the rant looked pretty bad there, though not as bad as it looked on the tube. But the point is somewhat irrelevant. Dean knew that he was on television in one of the rare moments that a candidate gets to address a national audience. If he was playing to his fans in the room and ignoring how he would look to folks in their living rooms, that was a spectacular miscalculation.

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Richmond, Va.: In your column today, you mention that the Dean supporters think that Kerry isn't getting the frontrunner's traditional close scrutiny. It seems to me that Kerry has ALREADY gotten a lot of that scrutiny, back last year when he was the frontrunner, and Dean got the benefit of that scrutiny -- while receiving none himself -- last fall.

Isn't this issue just a combination of sour grapes on the Deanies' part and a really short memory on the media's side?

Howard Kurtz: I don't think the pieces about Kerry last year had anything like the negativity and staying power of the Dean investigations of the last two months. Kerry, for example, didn't land on the cover of Newsweek until today, while Dean was on Time and Newsweek covers twice and U.S. News once. And besides, most normal people weren't paying attention to the campaign last year.

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Arlington, Va.: I saw Jon Stewart on Hannity and Colmes last week, discussing politics and being his usual smart and funny self. Why oh why do mainstream journalists (as opposed to the fake ones on The Daily Show) try to out-wit Jon Stewart? Both Hannity and Colmes tried to trade barbs with him, but they both failed miserably. My advise to them and others: play the straight guy and let Stewart do his thing (which is why they had him on the show in the first place). It always ends up FLAT because NO ONE is as funny as Jon Stewart. Just my two cents.

Howard Kurtz: You're right. I've tried it myself. The guy is really quick.

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Blacksburg, Va.: It's been a sad media week for the Dean people. Basically nothing but puff pieces appearing for the new front-runner, while Dean is relentlessly attacked for 'the speech'. Meanwhile Dean is pulling statistically even in some of the major polls, and I haven't seen a single Post report about his recovery. Do the Dean people have a right to claim media bias?

Howard Kurtz: The truth is, right now we don't know if there's a Dean recovery. I know there's a Zogby poll out today that has Dean pulling to within 3 points of Kerry, but lots of other polls show him trailing by 10 to 15 points. Believe me, if Dean finishes close to Kerry tomorrow, there will be no shortage of comeback stories. It will be enough to make you scream.

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re: MoveOn: If a specific candidate for the White House paid for the MoveOn.org commercial banned by CBS, would it still be considered an advocacy ad? After all, major networks run campaign ads all the time. If so, it seems like an issue of semantics to me.
"This is your Brain on Drugs" was an advocacy ad, no?

Howard Kurtz: Networks are required by federal law to run ads by candidates.

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Silver Spring, Md.: I thought that yesterday's pundit roundtable on Meet the Press was about the best I have seen. The 4 B's: Broder-Brokaw-Brownstein-Borger were at the top of their game. Their love for covering a hotly contested, high caliber campaign shown clearly in their highly insightful observations. Russert was masterful. If there was an Emmy for best performance by pundits this session would have won hands down. It is so refreshing to hear honest political analysis rather than the usual, boring spin-fests put on by advocates and insiders rather than journalists.

Howard Kurtz: I'll put you down as a fan. The four commentators you mentioned are very smart, and Broder, Brownstein and Borger in particular do plenty of reporting rather than just sound off.

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Detroit, Mich.: Ok, so now all of the media is off the hook for not reporting the news because we are in the middle of the primaries? There is always good excuses when you want to find one, but I thought you were supposed to critique the media not make excuses for the media.

Howard Kurtz: Not reporting the news? We report plenty of news, even in a political season. Iraq, the economy and Mars remain big stories. If you're talking about the State of the Union, it was on every front page in America and carried live by the major networks. It just didn't have much staying power as a story because the president didn't present that much to argue about.

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New Castle, Del.: Howard (thanks for the daily column),

Just a thought.. Jose Canseco, who played for Bush's Rangers, has admitted to widespread abuse. Will the media second guess someone profiting from it, or can it be stated the President has personal knowledge of what steroid use can do?

Which was worse, the Dean pep-rally, or the Kerry Hockey Game?

Howard Kurtz: I have no idea what Bush knew about steroid use when he was part owner of the Texas Rangers.
I was surprised that Kerry's hockey excursion didn't bring more ribbing from journalists. But he did score two goals. If he had been shut out AND was sinking in the polls, it would have been played as a metaphor.

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New York City, N.Y.: Howard, What do you make of CBS' 60 Minutes yesterday? First a puff piece segment for John Kerry just two days before the make or break New Hampshire primary, followed by Andy Rooney's suggestion that Bush be sent on a one-way trip to Mars. With incredibly poor taste, he then added the thought that the first lady be sent along with him. I assume Rooney meant this to be humorous but, oddly enough, he never signaled that intent by cracking the slightest smile.

Howard Kurtz: I'll go out on a limb and suggest that Andy Rooney is not making a serious proposal to send the president and first lady to Mars.

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Oakland, Calif.: Howard. One thing I've noticed is that reporters rarely talk about the money being spent on a race and who has that advantage. It's usually a one line "Kerry spent heavily in the state" and then a lot of stuff out his message was what was moving voters, veterans, etc. In the Iowa race, Kerry gained a solid victory but not that much better than Edwards when you think about that Kerry probably spent 2-3 times as much. (Of course you can lose with a lot of money too.) I bring this up as it relates to Iowa, but it's a common theme in most election reporting... "Candidate A had a more effective message than Candidate B..." but not mentioning Candidate A had three times as much money and pounded his message into the voters. Do you think reporters should be spending more time on how much money is flowing and where it's going?

Howard Kurtz: I believe the opposite -- that reporters are too mesmerized by money and tend to equate it with political success. There's a long list of candidates, including Phil Gramm, who raised a boatload of cash and then flopped. The media really started taking Dean seriously when he raised what turned out to be $40 million last year. Yet all that money didn't save him from a third-place finish in Iowa. Money is important, sure, especially when we get into a blizzard of primaries. But message and demeanor can matter just as much.
This just in: CNN is promoting a 5 p.m. Wolf Blitzer interview with Dean. So I guess he's not following a strategy of staying off TV, despite his no-show Sunday morning while the others were hitting the talk shows.
Thanks for the chat, folks.

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