Roger L Simon on Howard Kurtz
Kurtz Speaks on Mr. Jordan
Breaking a curious ten-day silence on the most important recent story on his beat, WaPo media analyst Howard Kurtz has written a carefully crafted, linguistically bland semi-defense of CNN News chief Eason Jordan against charges he accused US troops of "targeting" 12 journalists. Kurtz seems to accept the extremely debateable assertion that Jordan's remarks were "off the record" and relies in great degree on excerpted statements made to him (or someone) by David Gergen that seem to track somewhat differently from what Gergen told Michelle Malkin.
He also characterizes Jordan's critics as "conservative" bloggers, by which I take it Kurtz means those who supported the war in Iraq, a journalistically sloppy generalization. Kurtz does not acknowledge his own professional ties to CNN in the article, nor does he dwell on the uncomfortable fact that, as of now, the World Economic Forum is not releasing video tape of these proceedings. Until they do, this controversy will not be resolved. It will remain a he said/she said with most choosing to reference the witnesses that support their side. Kurtz, of course, omits testimony from several of the bloggers who were there, emphasizing instead some equivocal (when was he otherwise?) statements by Gergen. All in all, this is not an article, more of a place holder, with very little real digging done, despite another writer, Lisa de Moraes, being credited as a contributor at the end.
Of course, the reason this issue is of paramount importance is that we are in the midst of asymmetrical war. In such a situation, where propaganda determines victory, the power and significance of journalistic bias increases exponentially.http://www.rogerlsimon.com/ |
