It passed with little notice, but when Cenk appeared on CNN's Reliable Sources and was interviewed by the sometimes reliable source Howard Kurtz, Cenk actually ran, yet again, into the buzz saw of the corporate media. We might have missed that since a lot of us were simply happy to see Cenk get publicity on yet another major media outlet. But what happened during that interview was less of a report on why Cenk left MSNBC and on corporate control of the media than a subtle and diversionary attack on Cenk, himself.
Howard Kurtz virtually defended MSNBC and the corporate media.
Others are observing this, as well. Yvette Carnell, a blogger and occasional writer for the Atlanta Post, observed in her latest article for the Post that Kurtz dwelled on the pointless question of whether or not someone at MSNBC plainly told Cenk to moderate his views with respect to Democrats and the White House. She notes that "Uygur never said he had a smoking gun since there never is a smoking gun or an explicit quote in situations where this type of pressure is applied. It's always a wink and a nod, an order disguised as a suggestion or creative criticism."
Kurtz could have done some real reporting, but he avoided it. He could have asked who was involved, hopefully to find out who in Washington, D.C., might have tried to influence MSNBC's content. He might have tried to trace those influences or to find out more about what, exactly, MSNBC objected to in Cenk's commentary. And he could have discussed with Cenk more on the subject of what everyone knows, that powerful people will censor the media and keep information and points of view from the people if they think that is in their interest.
But Kurtz made Cenk the issue despite the clear evidence of what MSNBC is doing, given their appointment of Al Sharpton to Cenk's former slot, a man who has admitted to being an appendage of the White House.
Hopefully, Cenk knows that he can't count on even the most respectable-seeming media figures to treat him honestly. Howard Kurtz certainly didn't.