Critiquing the Press

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."

Howard Kurtz was online Tuesday, Feb. 21, at noon ET to discuss the press and his latest columns.

The transcript follows.

____________________

New York, N.Y.: Howard,

In your opinion is there anything proactive that the media could have done regarding the Cheney incident which would have brought it to light in a more timely fashion? Or, were they totally at the mercy of the Vice President's timetable?

Howard Kurtz: Uh...how exactly could reporters have known that the vice president of the United States shot someone unless said veep or someone who was there told him? Unlike other stories where we've admittedly dropped the ball, this was not exactly an incident we could have even imagined without getting the word that was eventually passed to the Corpus Christi Caller-Times.

_______________________

Columbia, Md.: How can we get news organizations to provide more context for their stories. I was driving in to work this morning and heard a news story in which Karen Hughes commented that the writers of the critical UN report on Gitmo had never visited. I think the report should have included the info that the U.N. team declined to visit because they would not be allowed contact with prisoners. It would not have made Hughes comment any less valid but would have provide a better context.

Howard Kurtz: Both are valid points that should have been included in any story on that U.N. report.

_______________________

New York, N.Y.: I'm an attorney in an office with 12 others. Political inclinations range from strong liberal Democrat (7), moderate Democrat (2), apolitical (2) and Republican (1). Being the lone Republican can be pretty lonely. As to the Cheney hunting accident, viewpoints are all over the board except with respect to one issue - unanimously, everyone agrees that the mainstream media has wildly overreacted to the story. You have been very defensive of the reporting on this story, somewhat to my surprise. Is my experience atypical or is there a backlash setting in, not just among Republicans?

Howard Kurtz: I haven't been defensive in the slightest. Since a vice president shoots someone only every 200 years, it was absolutely a legitimate story, and Cheney's delay in disclosing the news -- and granting an interview for four days -- was also a legitimate part of the story. That's not just my view but the view of many White House officials and Republican allies, including Ari Fleischer and Torie Clarke, both of whom I quoted in yesterday's column. Now, did the media then go into one of its classic frenzies, blow the story up even more and act a bit petulant that we, the mighty denizens of the national press corps, were stiffed? Sure. But that doesn't alter the basic fact that the story was news and the mishandling by the vice president's office was news.

_______________________

Dunn Loring, Va.: Howard: Will Vice-President Cheney ever give a press conference where he answers questions from a wide range of reporters ever again? I ask this because I don't see how he can what with his "the insurgency is in its last throes" comment not to mention "Mohammed Atta met with the Iraqis in Prague" and "we'll be greeted as liberators" line. Some things you just can't spin stuff. Assuming that is, there's a fearless press corps out there somewhere.

Howard Kurtz: I wouldn't hold my breath. He hasn't held one in four years, and seemed to have no interest in doing so even before the hunting accident. Now I imagine he'd rather walk on hot coals. I do think it would be a good idea, however, in that even a vice president who's not seeking the top job should be accountable to the people who elected him.

_______________________

Kansas City, Mo.: On the Abramoff-Bush photos, do you think are there publications (tabloids) with copies out there that are being held onto to get a bigger bang this fall, sort of an "October surprise."

Howard Kurtz: Nah. Anyone who had such a copy would publish it right now.

_______________________

Arlington, Va.: Howard, maybe you can help me understand this: Why is the big story the fact that Cheney waited to tell the press, and not that he got to wait a day before talking to the police? Seems to me that the cop thing is a bit more newsworthy, what with the speculation about drinking and all. Would the average citizen, after a firearm incident, get to tell the local police that he'd be happy to talk to them, but not until tomorrow? I doubt it. Where is that story?

Howard Kurtz: The fact that the vice president waited a day until talking to law enforcement is also an important element of the chronology. But I've seen no evidence that he rejected a request from the local sheriff's office. It's still unclear to me why the local officials were willing to wait until the next day, and whether they were somehow put off by Cheney's Secret Service detail.

_______________________

Herndon, Va.: Do you think that the next time your newspaper prints something offensive to Christians, even something as mild as a cartoon Jesus, that us Christians should intimidate you into silence?

It works, right? You cower under your desks when your pathetic little lives are vaguely remotely threatened.

Good thing the military is full of Republicans! We'd all be wearing headscarves and asking our arranged-marriage husbands for rides if we had you liberals to protect us.

Howard Kurtz: "You liberals"? Most news organizations in the United States, print and electronic, have declined to publish the Mohammed cartoons so as not to gratuitously offend Muslim readers. I think it's perfectly fine to debate that decision, including whether there is a double standard that allows the publication of cartoons that offend people of other religions, and whether fear was a factor in these editorial judgments. But I haven't seen anyone cowering under any desks.

_______________________

Pittsburgh, Pa.: All this media frenzy over Cheney shooting a 78-year-old man in the face - isn't it just the American media now trying to prove they're not mouthpieces of this administration after wrapping themselves in the flag and going all rah-rah in the lead up to the Iraq war without any sense of objectivity?

Howard Kurtz: Going all rah-rah? I have said, and written, many times that the media's performance during the runup to the Iraq war was inadequate. Journalists weren't skeptical or aggressive enough, though I would not put them in the category of cheerleaders. Since the war, most news organizations have been much tougher on the administration's conduct of the war, the situation in Iraq, and the campaign against terrorism in general. (The NYT story on domestic surveillance and the WP story on secret CIA prisons are but two examples.) In other words, I don't think we needed a hunting accident to "prove" anything.

_______________________

Ellicott City, Md.: You mentioned it and I hear a lot of complaining that Cheney doesn't do more press conferences. I watch these White House Press Briefings occasionally and after seeing the way people like David Gregory act during them, why would Cheney even bother. It seems most of the reporters want the press conference not to "hold Cheney accountable", but rather to try and embarrass him and the administration. How can you blame Cheney for refusing to even deal with people like David Gregory.

Howard Kurtz: Look, a lot of other people think he has been pressing for answers from an administration that doesn't much like to provide them. But whatever you think about the White House press corps, Cheney not only avoids press conferences but grants relatively few interviews. I believe he has had nine or 10 television appearances (which would avoid the group dynamic of lots of reporters shouting questions) during his more than five years in office.

_______________________

Delmar, N.Y.: There is one facet of the shooting incident involving the Vice President that is still very puzzling to me. I have just re-read the Vice President's interview with Brit Hume, and at least four times Mr. Cheney refers to Katharine Armstrong as an eyewitness to the shooting incident. However, at the time the shots were fired Ms. Armstrong was in a car, and her first reaction when she saw people running towards the hunters was that Dick Cheney had a heart problem. The actual eyewitness who was standing next to the VP when Mr. Whittington was hit was Pamela Willeford, the United States Ambassador to Switzerland. The Vice President never mentions her by name and most press reports have not referred to her or sought an accounting from her as to what happened. Ms. Willeford is a public figure. Do you have any insight as to why she has remained mostly anonymous in this matter?

Howard Kurtz: I don't know. But it's certainly fair to point out that Katherine Armstrong, although she was there and witnessed the aftermath, obviously did not see the actual shooting, by her own account.

_______________________

Germantown, Md.: Why did the press "blow up" the incident w/VP Cheney's shooting accident into a "media frenzy" when it was an accident and deserving of maybe a "page 5" mention and not a front page "free for all" ? We all acknowledge that, yes it was news, but there were more important things going on that were more deserving of "page 1" attention.

Howard Kurtz: I'll have to part company with you on that. This was a huge television story, huge story for the late-night comics, huge story for the blogs and huge story for the ol' water cooler. It obviously belonged on the front page. How many days it belonged on the front page is another matter, though I would argue that Cheney kept it alive by refusing to say anything for four days and then doing the Brit Hume interview.

_______________________

Columbia, Md.: This is a minor issue, but it is something that has bugged me for a while and since your column regularly appears in the Style section, I thought I'd get your opinion.

In the TV Grids in the Style section of The Post, left-leaning CNN is included while the right-leaning Fox News is not. I realize there is only so much room, so not every channel can be shown, but if The Post can only show one cable news network, why not show the cable news network with the higher ratings? I say either show both or show neither. By only including CNN and not Fox News, doesn't this indicate some sort of liberal political bias on the part of the Style Section editors?

Howard Kurtz: I'm sure it's a space issue, but I think they should include Fox and MSNBC as well. It is probably a hangover from the days when CNN was the only cable news network.

_______________________

Buffalo, N.Y.: I am amazed at how many news networks are basically financed by commercials for drug companies. It seems like every commercial is for some new drug. How can we expect the media to look into the biggest lobbying group in America when they take millions of dollars in ads from them?

Howard Kurtz: If you believe that television networks (and newspapers, for that matter) won't aggressively report on companies that advertise, then obviously you have no faith in the integrity of journalists. The truth is, most working journalists could care less who the advertisers are (as long as there are enough of them to keep the place in business), and any corporate manager that tried to kill a story about an advertiser would face one heck of a revolt.

_______________________

Philadelphia, Pa.: Howard,

Take this as a compliment...but my question is how much time off do you reporters get? I look forward to reading you first thing in the morning and get ticked off when you don't post. And I won't get started on trying to find your CNN show...

Howard Kurtz: Well, I'll try to keep posting so you don't get ticked off. Most Post reporters don't work 8-hour days, but I do extra duty by working for this Web site as well as the paper. By the way, my CNN show is not hard to find: 10 to 11 am every Sunday.

_______________________

Toronto, Ontario: In terms of this mostly blog story about the "Arabs buying American ports." I find it bizarre that no one seems to be talking about the fact that it may be racist, and ridiculous, to assume that Arabs operating ports necessarily means a terror problem.

What is your take on this?

Howard Kurtz: I think it's an interesting political issue that seems to be creating problems for the Bush administration with Republicans as well as Democrats. By the way, it's no longer a "mostly blog" story, if it ever was. It was big on the Sunday talk shows, and two of the three network newscasts led with it last night.

_______________________

Baton Rouge, La.: Hey Howard,

About the domestic wiretapping/surveillance issue: It strikes me that on very important factor in this whole issue is being left out. That is the ability to get warrants that justify any search retroactively. It seems to me at least that media in general have only touched on this issue, and while I'm sure you can point out several anecdotes where it has been discussed (you usually do when someone points out something the media is "missing") I think you would be hard pressed to say that is has been a central part of the discussion about domestic wiretapping. And it clearly should be.

I am not sure if this is yet another case for false balance or not, but it seems to me that, in any objective sense, that the fact that the NSA can obtain warrant after the fact greatly undermines the administration's position that the FISA law hinders their ability to fight terrorism.

Keep up the excellent work!

Howard Kurtz: I have seen many, many stories mention the fact that the administration can seek a FISA warrant as long as 72 hours after the fact, and it was brought up as well when Alberto Gonzales testified on the Hill. I still do not understand the administration's response on this point, as to why that is considered a cumbersome requirement.

_______________________

Chicago, Ill.: Question about the Muslim cartoon controversy - I heard early accounts that Muslims, hoping to escalate and prolong the riots, began circulating false cartoons (not from the original newspaper publishing) that was more offensive.

Did this in fact happen? Or was this just typical initial reports being mistaken? While I supported the media's decision not to republish (a right to do something does not mean a necessity to do something), seeing them would be able to confirm this easily. Have you heard anything about this?

Howard Kurtz: I have read there were some false cartoons circulated, and that obviously helped whip things up, although the real cartoons seem to have touched a nerve as well. I am amazed that violence continues to erupt over this issue, three weeks or so after the first protests, and the longevity would tend to support those who say some factions are seizing on the cartoons as a way of orchestrating anti-Danish, anti-European and anti-U.S.. violence.

_______________________

Silver Spring, Md.: Howard.. I am going to have to disagree with you. I HATE this administration and would like to see nothing more than negative stories on Bush and Cheney, but the media blew it giving the shooting so much coverage when they can't even give attention to real issues.

Howard Kurtz: It would be easier for me to respond if you would list the "real" issues that journalists aren't covering.

_______________________

Arlington, Va.: Someone please tell me how the nationalities of two of the 9/11 hijackers has any bearing on the position of their government. Isn't that like saying that because the KKK operates in the U.S., then the U..S government supports anti-Semitism, racism, and violence? I think this Islam paranoia is turning into this century's Red Scare. We all know how well that turned out.

Senator McCarthy would be so proud....

Howard Kurtz: It's a talking point for those who don't want a UAE company in charge of port security. But it does seem to me a legitimate question whether an Arab company, even one based in a country friendly to the U.S., should be given a contract in such a sensitive area.

_______________________

New York, N.Y.: You said "I'm sure it's a space issue, but I think they should include Fox and MSNBC as well. It is probably a hangover from the days when CNN was the only cable news network."

I could swear I watch you on CNN, not Fox. Has nothing to do with that? BTW, your show is far superior to their media show, or should I say less dishonest than their show.

Howard Kurtz: Thanks for the kind words, but I have absolutely nothing to do with the listings. I have noted that Fox talk shows are included in the weekend "highlights" section, if not in the grid itself.

_______________________

McLean, Va.: Howard, I found your story about the mid-west newspaper that was polling its readers to find out what stories they wanted to see fascinating. Do you think other media outlets will be doing this and actually follow the advice of their readers? Apparently, we DO care about what it going on in the world and are less interested in a rehash of the bird flu panic story.

Speaking of which, my mom (who watches a lot of CNN) is convinced that the bird flu will be here any day now and spreading person to person. I wonder what could have given her that idea?!

Howard Kurtz: I do think the media have become more interested in finding our what readers and viewers want. Whether there should be a popularity poll (obviously limited to computer users, and those who take the time to participate) for shaping the front page is an intriguing question. What if readers consistently voted against foreign stories on A-1? Does that mean you just stop putting them out front? Or is it the responsibility of editors to play up stories they deem important as well as those that are likely to generate buzz?

_______________________

New York, N.Y.: The Cheney shooting is a "page 1 story" and the Danish cartoons - over which dozens of people have been killed - aren't even important enough to bother reprinting? What planet are you on?

Is it any wonder that so many of us hold the press in such contempt? Your job is to publish important information. The Danish cartoons fits that description; the Cheney shooting does not.

Howard Kurtz: You're not making a distinction between the coverage of the Danish cartoons -- which has been quite ample, including a piece in Sunday's Outlook by the Danish editor who first published them -- and the physical reprinting of the cartoons themselves. That involves a judgment, which you may disagree with, and which I myself have doubts about, that a news outlet can cover the controversy and debate and violence without running the cartoons themselves. Editors at the Philadelphia Inquirer, Austin-American Statesman, New York Sun and Weekly Standard decided otherwise.

_______________________

Washington, D.C.: I sent the following to the opinions email address and got nothing; can you shed some light?

On Tuesday I spent a wonderful day reading. First I pored through Newsweek, then The Post. When I got to the Editorial page I noticed an article that was on the same topic I had read in Newsweek; after reading the first couple of sentences I realized it was the exact same article. Nowhere in either publication is it mentioned that this article was reproduced elsewhere.

The Decline And Fall Of Europe , ( Post, Feb. 14, 2006 )

The Decline and Fall of Europe , ( Post, Feb. 20, 2006 )

Do you do this often, since the Post and Newsweek are owned by the same company? Shouldn't you indicate when an article is published in more than one of The Post's entities?

Howard Kurtz: The Post editorial page runs columns by Robert Samuelson and occasionally by Fareed Zakaria (like the one you referenced) that also appear in Newsweek, which as I'm sure you know is owned by the Post Company. I don't have any problem with that, but the dual publication should probably be noted in the credit line.

_______________________

New York, N.Y.: Why do companies like Lockheed Martin and ADM advertise on TV? Do they think I am going to go out and buy an F-15?

Howard Kurtz: It's called image advertising. They're interested in polishing the old corporate reputation.

_______________________

Charlotte, N.C.: Thankfully the government is looking into what a miserable job they did on Katrina. However, I hear so many in the media talk about how important they were in bringing us the story. Has anyone looked into how many mistakes and false stories the media reported or does the media just continue to disregard getting the story right and concern themselves with just getting the story first?

Howard Kurtz: The press clearly made mistakes in the first days of Katrina, but journalists did demonstrate, in a vivid way, that the reassurances of government officials that things were going fine were utterly contradicted by the facts on the ground. I think everyone now acknowledges that. What's interesting to me is that many news organizations (even without Mardi Gras as a peg) have continued to report intensively on the appallingly slow pace of the cleanup and the continued exile of much of the New Orleans population, rather than display our usual short attention span and move on to other matters after six months.

_______________________

Washington, D.C.: What is the news about Larry Summers resigning as president of Harvard this morning? It's printed that his resignation is a backlash against his forcing out an academic dean in the school of Arts and Sciences. How did Summers go from near ouster last year to become so strong that he could force out a dean who enjoyed such deep respect and loyalty from his peers?

Howard Kurtz: I don't know. Summers kind of dropped off the media radar screen for awhile, so I'll be interested to catch up with the next wave of stories.

_______________________

State College, Pa.: Thanks for the chat!

I just read The Post's article on Rumsfeld's comments about the media. For one thing, he accused the media of printing far more negative material about Iraq than positive. From your perspective as a journalist/media expert, how fair do you think coverage has been thus far? And further, what sort of responsibility does the media have in terms of printing positive/negative stories? Perhaps another way of phrasing my query is: is it wrong of Rumsfeld to push for a greater amount of positive stories if journalists believe that the number of negative stories really outnumbers the positive stories?

Howard Kurtz: I think Iraq is a very difficult story to cover and that the news has not been good there for some time. I also think the "negative" stories, often involving the latest suicide bombing or attacks on U.S. troops, are important and unavoidable. At the same time, the dangerous situation for reporters--as underscored by the wounding of Bob Woodruff and the kidnapping of Jill Carroll--makes it hard to move around the country and talk to ordinary citizens about whether their lives have improved.

_______________________

Rochester, N.Y.: The tempest in a teapot about Dana Milbank's appearance on Countdown has me mystified. Has the press completely lost its sense of humor?

On this note, perhaps you can't comment on this, but I was puzzled by your ombudsman's attack on Mr Milbank. This is the second time she has gone after one of your more popular reporters/columnists for being "liberal". Is it really appropriate, in your mind, for an ombudsman to constantly carp on perceived liberal bias while never treating the issue of possible conservative bias?

Howard Kurtz: I don't think Deborah Howell "attacked" Dana Milbank; I think she was doing her job in writing about a controversy involving a member of the staff. Her view, with which I don't agree, is not about the content of Milbank's views but that she believes he should be labeled as an opinion columnist. I would note, as Howell did, that some of what he has written in his sharp-edged style has ticked off Democrats as well.

_______________________

Richmond, Va.: Question for N.Y., N.Y.: how many presidents or vice presidents have shot someone? Aaron Burr killed Alexander Hamilton, but that was in a duel and was therefore not an accident. If he can name another executive who has shot someone, I'll agree that the story was overhyped. Teddy Roosevelt never had a hunting accident.

Howard Kurtz: According to my extensive historical research, Aaron Burr appears to be about it.

_______________________

Washington, D.C.: Howard: Quick question re "offensive" cartoons. A couple of weeks ago, a Washington Post cartoonist drew a cartoon that offended the Joint Chiefs of Staff (the cartoon used a limbless GI to make a point about Rumsfeld), who wrote a letter to the editor. In your next chat, you wrote that the cartoonist "knew" his cartoon would offend some people. Yet The Post published it anyway. How is that different than the Danish cartoons, which The Post have not republished?

Howard Kurtz: I wrote a story about that Tom Toles cartoon. Certainly some people, including the Joint Chiefs, think it shouldn't have been published. The difference is that Toles was not mocking a religious figure; in fact, he would say that his target was Rumsfeld and the war and that in no way was he trying to denigrate soldiers by using a quadruple amputee as a symbol. If you didn't publish cartoons that offended anyone, you would have to get out of the cartooning business.

Thanks for the chat, folks.

_______________________

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. washingtonpost.com is not responsible for any content posted by third parties.