NYT: Journalist, Cover Thyself (Howie Kurtz's WP/CNN conflict of interest)

[DeepModem Mom]

Journalist, Cover Thyself
By KATHARINE Q. SEELYE
Published: November 21, 2005


....Howard Kurtz, the media writer for The Washington Post, posed tough questions yesterday for nearly eight minutes to Leonard Downie Jr., The Post's executive editor, on a program where Mr. Kurtz is host, CNN's "Reliable Sources." The subject was the revelation last week that Bob Woodward, The Post's investigative reporter, had not disclosed the fact that a senior official in the Bush administration leaked the name of a C.I.A. agent to him more than two years ago....

***

You've heard of reality television? This might be reality newspaper. It is "The Washington Post Live," and it is playing out on CNN, thanks in part to Mr. Kurtz and his highly unusual double role as media writer for The Post and media referee for the cable network.

In the last few years, with the rise of blogs and a rich supply of scandals at news organizations, including The New York Times, the media have come under intense scrutiny. And many news outlets have turned a critical eye on themselves - a tricky matter rife with conflict that raises the question of whether anyone can report fully and fairly on his or her own employer, particularly for public consumption.

Few have lived in the cross-hairs of these conflicts more visibly than Mr. Kurtz, who has owned the media beat at The Post since 1990 and been host of "Reliable Sources" since 1998.

He draws salaries from two of the most important media companies in the country: CNN, which is owned by Time Warner, and The Post, which is owned by The Washington Post Company. Such arrangements do not violate Post policy. In fact, The Post has quite liberal rules regarding extracurricular work by its reporters and editors....


http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/21/business/media/21kurtz.html

[KoKo]

1. Article kind of cuts off and leaves me hanging at the end of it......

I guess one could look at it as: "How DOES 52 year old Howie with that new marriage and baby manage to find the time?" :eyes:

[DeepModem Mom]

6. New marriage to young winger wife, that is, as post 3 points out. And...

you're right, what the heck does Howie's being a busy man have to do with the issue of his conflict of interest?

[sofa king]

2. The pot is rattling at the kettle again.

[KT2000]

3. to say nothing of

the fact that his wife is a consultant for repub candidates.
Kurtz is nothing but conflict of interest.

[UpInArms]

4. and all this time I had thought he was just a

shrill shill

Kurtz is nothing but conflict of interest

[PurityOfEssence]

5. Good one. A shrill shill and a hack claque.

The transparency of his currying of favor with the administration is luminescent. Fuck him. With any luck, many iconic journalists will be shown as sinners against the heart of their profession before this tawdry and violent phase of our history passes.

Miller is destroyed, whether she knows it or not, Woodward is sullied beyond repair, even if he will continue to have some quasi-rectitude and a career. Kurtz is an opportunist and a tool and will have many comeuppances in the next few spasms of this national convulsion.

A hack is a creative person who knows how to do things right, but phones it in for cheap and immediate rewards. A claque is someone hired to be in the audience, either to cheer one's own or one's ally's project or to boo the work of a rival.

He's filth.