Howard Kurtz Misses The Point

Daily Kos Staff

Monday February 25, 2008 · 10:38 AM PST

2008/02/25 · 10:38

Please note that there is no "breaking" in the title. Today the media critic, who somehow never manages to criticize the media, misses the point again.

Last week, when the Times quoted unnamed former associates of John McCain as saying they believed, in 1999, that he had an extramarital relationship with Washington lobbyist Vicki Iseman, a huge controversy erupted. This time, though, it was the Times that was harshly criticized.

To be sure, the piece included significant details about whether the Arizona senator had done legislative favors for Iseman's clients. And unlike the tabloid Star, which paid Flowers a six-figure sum, the Times has won dozens of Pulitzers for aggressive journalism. But with McCain and Iseman both denying an inappropriate relationship, a rough consensus is emerging among journalists that the Times story was fatally flawed.

Fatally flawed because both McCain and Iseman deny ever doing the horizontal tango? Newsflash, Mr. Kurtz; that's not the point. Whether McCain cheated on his second wife just as he did multiple times on his first wife is not the issue. So instead of rehashing past sexual scandals, you might try spending a little time reporting on the media coverage of those legislative favors. That's the story.

Howard Kurtz Misses The Point

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