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 Monday, Sept. 5, at Noon ET to discuss the press and his latest columns.

The transcript follows.

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Washington D.C.: In spite of the Ombudsman column this past Sunday, the Post is 0-for-2 on the front page this week. On Monday, a sports story was featured. Sports!?!?!? Why don't the editors understand that sports is inherently trivial and should NEVER be on the front page? And then today, a story about a bozo TV star that got what was coming to him. Put it in Style where that kind of junk belongs. The Post is unfortunately more and more getting to be like USA Today. What do we have to do to convince the editors that the front page is for hard news and not frivolous junk?

Howard Kurtz: Sports stories should NEVER be on the front page? Despite the fact that it's big business and has millions and millions of fans? You have an awfully cramped definition of news. As for your line about the "bozo TV star," that's a pretty heartless dismissal of someone who was just killed in the line of duty.

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Chantilly, Va. : Judging from the nonstop cable coverage (two Larry Kings in a row, for example) is Steve Irwin the new John Mark Karr?

Howard Kurtz: No. Because there's no great mystery involved. (Though actually Karr's sad story was rather flimsy from the start.) I've been a little surprised at how much coverage Steve Irwin has gotten, but he was someone who was fairly famous for what he did, died tragically and unexpectedly, and did so over a very slow Labor Day weekend.

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San Francisco, Calif.: The Administration makes a ridiculous claims about the lessons of WWII and no one in the media save Eugene Robinson (and that was about two years late) ever challenges it or even ask the President if 'appeasement' was the only lesson of WWII. No wonder, the MSM is becoming irrelevant.

Howard Kurtz: I don't know what MSM you're consuming, but there have been a number of good, solid stories about Bush, Cheney and Rummy trotting out historical analogies about WW II, Nazis, etc., in an effort to buttress their case in Iraq. Gene Robinson is, of course, an opinion columnist. It sounds like you may want news stories to denounce Bush's rhetoric, but that's not the role of the news pages.

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College Park, Md: What did you think of The Post magazine's special on weddings? It seemed much more like a grab for ad dollars than journalism.

Howard Kurtz: I can't claim to have read it carefully, but of course, special magazine issues (not just in The Post) on a city's best restaurants, or golf, or back-to-school, are not published without a recognition of the advertising opportunities.

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Baton Rouge, La.: What exactly would Katie Couric have to do tonight to live up to the hype? Announce the capture of Osama AND the cure for cancer by the first ad break?

Howard Kurtz: Negotiate an end to the war in Iraq and a prisoner exchange between Israel and Hezbollah. But she is going to get a huge Nielsen number tonight. The question is what happens after that.

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Chillum, Md: NPR's All Things Considered makes a big deal of reading out listers' comments on its Thursday show.

Some of comments are quite critical, yet NPR never addresses them. It's as if NPR believes that merely airing a critique is response enough.

When and why should editors and reporters explain themselves?

Howard Kurtz: I'm a big fan of journalists both airing and responding to criticism. But there is an ethic, which you also see on letters-to-the-editor pages, that we had our say and now it's the readers' or viewers' turn. There is also a concern that if we use our printing presses to have the last word, we're being defensive and perhaps unfair. I don't happen to agree with this -- a good exchange in which both sides get to make their points can be both fair and interesting -- but that's the thinking.

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Orange, Va.: The media was unquestionably trumpeting over the weekend the capture of yet another al-Quaeda # 2 leader. Without being too cynical, at some point shouldn't the issue be mentioned in at least some of these stories about the seemingly infinite supply of such # 2 leaders. They are like clowns coming out of a circus car yet the media never even seems to raise an eyebrow.

Howard Kurtz: I think that's a valid point. Remember when the killing of Zarqawi was going to be a turning point in Iraq? At the very least, stories should mention the history in which the capture or killing of terrorist leaders has not necessarily stemmed the tide of violence.

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Alexandria, Va.: The Steve Irwin story absolutely had to run on the front page. I'm still shocked. Steve was a guy everybody thought they knew. It's a really sad loss.

Howard Kurtz: If news is what people are talking about, then it was undoubtedly news.

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Washington, D.C.: I find it bizarre, depressing, and not just a little telling about the sorry state of American TV news that Steve Irwin led the NBC news last night. I know he's a high-profile guy, and I don't quibble with the story being included in the news, but come on. Sudan, Iraq, Afghanistan... These are somehow less important than Irwin's death and examining the new threat of sting rays?

Howard Kurtz: Two words: Labor Day. Look, I wouldn't have led with it -- and I wonder if Brian Williams would have if he hadn't had the day off-- but there was not a lot of hard news yesterday.

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Philadelphia, Pa.: Howard...why don't we hear anything about the Anthrax attacks that killed Americans in Oct and Nov of 2001? Why don't reporters bring this up when the president and company say we haven't been attacked since 9/11?

Howard Kurtz: I suppose because we don't know, to this day, whether those who sent the anthrax were foreign terror leaders or deranged Americans.

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Carlisle, PA: Howard

There have been many articles like "Terrorism Prosecutions Drop, Analysis Shows a Spike After 9/11, Then a Steady Decline" (Monday, September 4, 2006; Page A06)in the Post and other papers where a study critical of the administration is released. The story invariably has a paragraph like the one following that has a spokesman refuting the methodology and conclusions.

"But Justice Department spokesman Bryan Sierra said in a statement last week that the report contains "many flaws" and "misleading analysis." He said that sentencing statistics are not a good measure of the department's counter terrorism efforts, and that it is not surprising that many referrals from the FBI or other investigative agencies do not result in prosecutions."

Do you think the reporting contains enough information to allow the reader to draw his/her own conclusions?

To me, there should be more substantive discussion of what's wrong with the study in the view of the department or absent that, the reporter should press for it. It is too easy to let the report be discounted without giving the reader the gist of the issues.

Howard Kurtz: You know, I think readers are smart and can figure out when a government official has a strong case and when he or she is just offering up some talking points. Obviously, we have to give officials a chance to respond when their agency is criticized in a report. In 99 percent of the stories I've written, they say the criticism was overblown, challenge the methodology, or say the problems have been corrected and the findings are outdated. But if they don't offer a lot of specifics, I think people are perfectly capable of forming their own judgments.

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ABC 9/11 Movie: CBS had to push its Reagan miniseries to Showtime after it embellished some lines. Now ABC is putting out a 9/11 movie that depicts the Clinton administration refusing to bomb Bin Laden when they had a perfect opportunity. The only problem: according to the 9/11 Commission and all available evidence, this simply never happened. Why is this okay?

Howard Kurtz: How do you know that's what ABC's movie shows when it hasn't aired yet? I can't intelligently (or even not so intelligently) discuss something I haven't seen. Certainly there has been a dispute over whether the Clinton administration missed a prime opportunity to get bin Laden or not. Whether that's fairly depicted in this movie, I'll have to wait and see.

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Washington, D.C.: This in response to the comments about the "bozo TV star".

I am appalled that you would think it would be okay to call someone who just died yesterday, a "bozo TV star" who got what they deserve. As someone who has always been a fan of Steve Irwin or bozo to you, his shows focused environmental conservation and wildlife education. How many times do you see a crocodile up close? His enthusiasm and passion will be sorely missed in the cynical world of TV.

Howard Kurtz: Duly noted.

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Hampton, Va.: In the news about Mark McClellan resigning as head of Medicare, The Post only makes a note about a lapse of four years from his time as FDA Commissioner and the next appointed head - I'm truly surprised there's not one mention about the Plan B controversy, which figured hugely in the next appointment. Any comments on the coverage (or lack of)?

Howard Kurtz: The paper has certainly covered in some detail the Plan B controversy and the way that Hillary Clinton held up Senate confirmation of the new FDA commissioner until a decision was made on the drug one way or the other.

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New York, N.Y.: Thanks for taking my question. Do you think there will be any fallout from ABC running the 9/11 movie that inaccurately portrays the CIA as being on Bin Ladens' doorstep and Clinton calling them off? What about the fact that it was leaked to five conservative bloggers but not a single lib? Could this be ABC's Reagan movie?

Howard Kurtz: Again, I don't know if the ABC movie is inaccurate or not (and let's remember, folks, it is a movie). If ABC provided advance copies to conservative bloggers and not liberal ones, I'd say that's a very strange marketing strategy.

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Bethesda, Md.: Just a comment, the Atlantic Monthly runs author responses to the letters. I love it. It never struck me as trying to have the last word. It actually comes across more as a cross examination which is refreshing since, in my opinion, many opinion columns are full of spin and mischaracterization. For instance, I'd love a response to a letter to the editor of The Post's contention that Wilson is responsible for Armitage being a gossip.

Howard Kurtz: Yes, a number of magazines do that. Some reader, or the subject of a story, rips an article, and then the author replies. It's almost always interesting to follow the clash. It's a good model, but unfortunately one that newspapers have always shied away from. At least we're taking a step in that direction through these online chats and through some of the blogs.

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RE: ABC Movie: Apparently Richard Clarke has seen the movie and disputes the facts in regards to the chance to capture bin Laden.

Should we ignore his comments until Sunday?

Howard Kurtz: I'm not saying we should ignore his comments. I'm simply saying that since I don't have an advance copy, I have no information except for other people's descriptions. Richard Clarke may be right, or not, but he's hardly a disinterested party here.

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Springfield, Va.: RE: the first poster. As a former reporter from a family with ink in its blood, I'd love for people like him (her?) to spend time answering the phone from people just like him, but with their own set of opinions. And perhaps he could sit in on the 4 p.m. meeting when editors thoughtfully (as a reporter I'll have to deny that if repeated)consider the whole list of stories and how to balance the bar for news with the public's desires and expectations for what should be placed where. Hey, I disagree with newspaper content, placement, tone as much as the next person. But I also know that, by and large, journalists made these decisions with care and a sense of responsibility that many (most?) in the public apparently will never understand.

Howard Kurtz: One thing I find that some folks don't understand is that the front page is designed to be a mix of hard news with some lighter features or stories that involve or reflect pop culture. When someone who is famous dies or is involved in a high-profile incident, a la Mel Gibson, it is, by definition, not as important to the future of the world as war, terrorism and the economy. But it is of interest to plenty of people. A good newspaper is like a smorgasbord, and every dish served can't be broccoli.

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Anonymous: "Howard Kurtz: Again, I don't know if the ABC movie is inaccurate or not (and let's remember, folks, it is a movie). "

If it was a fictional movie, that's one thing.

ABC is marketing this movie as an objective look based on the findings of the 9/11 Commission. Don't you think that raises the bar for the factual accuracy for the producers and ABC?

Howard Kurtz: Yes, absolutely.

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Springfield, Va.: Point of information, sir: you mentioned in yesterday's article on CBS that they had hired Douglas Brinkley as a sort of staff historian. I can't find that info anywhere else. Do you have any more details?

And does the fact that Brinkley was John Kerry's sympathetic biographer in 2004 do anything to CBS's image vis a vis fair and balanced?

Howard Kurtz: You can't find that information anywhere because it is what we in the trade call an exclusive. As for your second question, it will depend on what Brinkley does on the broadcast and whether he seems to have a strong political point of view.

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Atlanta,Ga.: The comments about Steve Irwin are inappropriately harsh. What makes him "news" is he was a well known person who got rich and famous doing what he loved and he seemed to be a nice guy (and it was Labor Day). Common decency seems to have greatly declined in our society. In addition, the anonymity of the Internet has definitely emboldened people who are far meeker in the flesh. As for the posters who believe that Mr. Irwin got "what was coming to him" - let's hope the world is kinder place when your day comes. --Sheesh.

Howard Kurtz: I had no idea this was going to become a hot topic.

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Granger, Ind.: To what extent should (or can) the news media cover stories that are not breaking news (like Steve Irwin) or high profile (like Iraq), but are significant for the country? For example, the high incarceration rates of African Americans, or the terrible state of U.S. prisons, or the everyday violence taking place in many U.S. cities. These types of stories tend to be left unexamined by the press, unless some catastrophe takes place (i.e., Katrina illustrating race and class divides in the U.S.).

Howard Kurtz: I actually think these are among the most important kinds of stories we can do, and that we don't do enough of them. News outlets tend far too often to cover what politicians are talking about, and often they're not talking about political problems they can't solve or cultural shifts that are not heralded in press conferences. Katrina merely highlighted the extent to which the mainstream press had stopped writing about race and big-city poverty because somewhere along the way those subjects were deemed to be unfashionable.

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Lake Ridge, Va.: You said: " Remember when the killing of Zarqawi was going to be a turning point in Iraq?"

Can you point to one news article that states the administration asserted this? Or is this essentially a made-up fact on your part?

Howard Kurtz: Washington Post, June 12: U.S. military officials have said they believed the Sunni Arab network was disrupted by Zarqawi's death on Wednesday. Gen. George W. Casey Jr., the top U.S. commander in Iraq, said on "Fox News Sunday" that al-Quaeda in Iraq had been "hurt badly" and that U.S. forces had conducted a "steady drumbeat" of operations against Zarqawi's network since his death.

One of many such examples, by the way.

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Santa Cruz, Calif.: How far apart do they typically schedule polls during a Senate race.

The last two polls that came out of Connecticut regarding the Lamont/Lieberman race were contradictory...then nothing.

Any idea when we should be hearing more in that race?

Howard Kurtz: Who is "they"? News organizations have to pay for these polls. So it really depends on the media outlets in a given state and whether they have the budget and the desire to finance surveys that may not be of national interest, except in very high-profile races.

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Whoops, Bias! There It Is! : Do you have an opinion on Post reporters doing book reviews, either in Book World or on the Federal Page? Doesn't it risk signaling to readers that they're really coming from a liberal viewpoint when they approach a story, whether it's Dave Brown on evolution or Steve Weisman today on the New Dems?

Howard Kurtz: I think it's fine. I've written a few myself, although not in some time. And why would it necessarily signal a "liberal" viewpoint?

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Montgomery County Md.: When will The Post announce its endorsements for MD Senate and House of Delegates?

I was pleased to see the Fenty endorsement this morning.

Howard Kurtz: I don't know, because we have a church-state separation here. But from looking at the calendar, I'd say pretty soon.

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Significant, but not breaking: I think the press would do a better job with those is they were shorter and more frequent. Too often, when I read an eight part series in The Post, it's like going through unedited Solzhenitsyn. It also reads like "this is my shot at a Pulitzer, so I'm gonna pull out all the stops!". Tighter focus, and tighter editing. Frequent revisiting - a quarterly update would be excellent. This is something that magazines (The Economist, for one) do very well, but daily papers ought to be able to do better.

Howard Kurtz: There's been a debate here ever since I joined the paper about whether stories are too long, and periodic attempts to rein them in. I think a great narrative and great reporting can justify longer, magazine-style pieces, but I find in many papers that series do read like they're edited for Pulitzer judges.

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Oxford Town, Miss.: I'm curious to know what "Washington, DC" thinks is appropriate for the front page if NEVER sports or the death of an international celebrity. Is politics the only thing that should be covered on the front page? I imagine newspapers wouldn't sell very well if that was the policy. Heck, I'm a political junkie myself but I'm also excited for the beginning of football season. Does that make me an idiot? Sheesh.

Howard Kurtz: I officially pronounce you not an idiot.

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Philadelphia, Pa.: What is your schedule? When should I start checking for your Media Notes column?

Howard Kurtz: We generally try to have it up by 8:30 or 9, though sometimes there are unavoidable delays.

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Springfield, Va.: Good afternoon, it seems that the so-called liberal media is paying much more attention to the unfortunate death of Steve Irwin than the death of our soldiers and marines in Afghanistan and Iraq. September had been a deadly month so far. How do conservatives get away with this nonsense about the "lib" media?

Howard Kurtz: I've actually seen a whole lot of reporting on the death toll in Iraq, the fact that it dropped in August after a U.S.-led crackdown but is still at a very high level, and questioning whether this modest progress can be sustained. The nightly newscasts have done such stories as well as the newspapers. I don't think one story about the death of an Australian crocodile hunter changes that.

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New York, N.Y.: Don't you think it is time for a BBC style (except for the gratuitous Bush bashing)news show either on Network or Cable TV? McNeill/Leher is fantastic on PBS.

As a died in the wool Conservative Republican, I want a more informed public, greatly more informed with in depth studies of the world around us because I think it would help our Party instead of sound=bite journalism that can either be greatly for the president, or as in the last two years greatly against. I am not for short gains, I am for long ones and only a smarter electorate can ensure a long term conservative voting republic.

Howard Kurtz: Well, most cable systems already carry BBC World.

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Gambrills, Md.: I've been reading The Post for 30 years. The kind of "junk" that Washington, D.C. seems to have a problem with has always been included on the front page. Stories about the Redskins winning will always be on Page 1. Stories about the deaths of international celebrities (Irwin) are of interest to a lot of readers. Stories about the end of an era (Agassi's retirement) are noteworthy. Maybe there are some stories that don't deserve front page coverage (the recent story about the cute co-eds moving into a new dorm come to mind), but the front page of The Post, a local and national newspaper, should include stories from all sections.

Howard Kurtz: I'm glad you noted that The Post is also a local paper. That's something that the Wall Street Journal and USA Today, for example, don't have to worry about, but strong local stories are part of the A-1 mix every day here.

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Alexandria, Va: Short articles are not necessarily well-written and often short-change the reader/issue. There was an excellent 9000-word Katrina anniversary piece in the Times Picayune last week.

Howard Kurtz: And I'm sure people in New Orleans read every word.

Look, there's always a tension between writing tight and bright (to give busy people the news as efficiently as possible) and writing long and strong (to draw people into a narrative with all kinds of texture and behind the scenes detail). Sometimes we, like everyone else, get the balance wrong.

Thanks for the chat, folks.

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