Howard Kurtz waves white flag; I wipe my ass with it
Kurtz call for a cease-fire on his online column today, waving a white flag of the bashing of not only Dan Rather, Eason Jordan, and Jeff Gannon, but also of himself. If Kurtz reads any of the major blogs, he could not have missed Mickey Kaus over at Slate sticking in his knife, while Kos and his horde swoop down like vultures on his carcass.
The problem for Kurtz, sitting on his lofty perch at the Wash Post, is he is in danger of having the perch yanked out from under him.
Kurtz supplied the nut of the argument that every member of the MSM is wondering - why are liberals attacking me?
Because you screwed up, because you are a liar, and because you are condescending to your readers.
"From the other side of the divide, it's partisan, opinionated, sometimes reckless and slightly crazy bloggers trying to lynch responsible journalists who, unlike their online tormentors, are at least trying to be fair," Kurtz writes.
What could be more reasonable that that defense? What could be more "fair" than that defense? MSM is just trying to be fair.
Let me spell it out, because Kurtz obviously does not know journalistic integrity. "FAIR" -implies opinion. Kurtz from his mighty pedestal has not been writing the facts, he has been choosing which facts determine "FAIR" coverage. I only know of one other news source that prides itself on being "FAIR."
Having one quote from a Republican source and one quote from a Democratic source is fair, but it is also crappy reporting if one side is lying its ass off. Telling the facts is good reporting, including calling out a liar.
Kurtz is not the only MSM reporter whining about the blogs picking on them.
Nicholas Lehman, of the New Yorker, asked the question in his latest story, "Why is everyone mad at the mainstream media?"
Ummm. Because you suck. Because you're biased.
Here is the money shot, of why Lehman, and Bill Keller of the NY Times, doesn't get it:
"Kerry did not complain about the Times' coverage, and complaints from the Kerry campaign `were smaller-bore' than Rove's, Keller said. He went on, `Where we really got a Rovean level of hostility was from the Howard Dean campaign. They had the true-believer fervor you got from the Bush people. The Kerry people felt more of an affinity--there was a greater level of comfort with them.'
You see, media criticism is not about the media doing a crap job, it's about the crazy fringe element in Bush and Dean's campaign.
But let's look at the real reason behind our hostility.
This is from the Center for Media and Public Affairs when they researched our "unbiased" media:
"Between Labor Day and Election Day, Bush's coverage was 64 percent negative, with only 36 percent of news stories painting him in a positive light. Kerry, on the other hand, garnered 58 percent positive coverage during the same period."
"Dean Versus the Dems--Only 49 percent of all on-air evaluations of former Vermont governor in 2003 were positive while the rest of the democratic field collectively received 78 percent favorable coverage."
Of course, MSM ignores these numbers.
Approximately one month after the Center released its numbers on Dean's press coverage, Kurtz, yes Kurtz, ran an article stating that Dean's implosion had nothing to do with negative media coverage, but because, "he didn't want to be president."
"The feuding and backbiting that plagued the Howard Dean campaign had turned utterly poisonous. Behind the facade of a successful political operation, senior officials plotted against each other, complained about the candidate and developed one searing doubt.
Dean, they concluded, did not really want to be president." - Divide and Bicker:
The Dean Campaign's Hip, High-Tech Image Hid a Nasty Civil War. By Howard Kurtz
Sunday, February 29, 2004.
And who were these "senior officials" exactly? What a fuck face.
Now, please ask again Kurtz, why bloggers are hunting for blood from the MSM? Because we still have a douche bag sitting in the oval office with the worst social, economic, political, and military record out of every president, ever. Fuck "fair" news - lets just have the truth. And if you don't like the heat for doing hackwork, you can always quit. I wipe my ass with your white flag.