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Howard Kurtz's terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad week

July 02, 2009 3:28 pm ET by Jamison Foser

Washington Post media critic Howard Kurtz has:

* Done no original reporting on the Washington Post's firing of Dan Froomkin

* Failed to ask Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank about a controversy over whether Milbank called another reporter a nasty name during a taping of Kurtz' television show

* Gotten scooped by a rival publication on an explosive story about the Washington Post auctioning off access to its reporters and editors to lobbyists and other interest groups.

Is it really too much to expect the nation's most famous media critic to be able to cover significant media stories that happen right under his own nose?

Incredibly, it might actually be more than Kurtz can handle, as I explain in my column today.

UPDATE: More from Marcy Wheeler on flaws in Kurtz's (eventual) article about the Post/lobbyist scheme.  And from Adam Serwer on what Kurtz was writing about while Politico was drinking his milkshake.

Tags: The Washington Post, Howard Kurtz

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    • Author by truthseeker77 (July 02, 2009 8:26 pm ET)
      1  
      Boehlert warned about the conflict of interest that Kurtz faces, being an employee of CNN, Washington Post, etc. This one explained by Foser is just one example.
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    • Author by dalybean (July 02, 2009 10:41 pm ET)
      1  
      Howard Kurtz wasn't so much as scooped on the pay-to-play scandal as knifed by his competitor Mike Allen, since Kurtz was clearly involved all along in the corporate-sponsored salon idea, which started at The Atlantic and which Kurtz himself wrote admiringly about in April of 2009 before the Post ripped off the idea. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/26/AR2009042602297.html?sid=ST2009042602321

      It was colossally stupid of the Post to have Kurtz handle the lying CYA since he is personally implicated. At least The Atlantic was upfront about their salons as shown in this interview from November 2008. http://www.bizbash.com/washington/content/editorial/13433_profit_centers.php

      You have to give it Mike Allen. He is a fearsome competitor. He probably knew Kurtz and his crew would mishandle the whole affair when he set the whole thing up. LOL
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    • Author by thebewilderness (July 04, 2009 12:30 pm ET)
      1  
      It is Howard Kurtz job to be puzzled, confused, and miss the point of any reasoned argument. He is very good at it.
      Report Abuse

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  • County Fair is a media blog featuring links to progressive media criticism from around the Web as well as original commentary, breaking news and rapid response updates to major media events from Media Matters senior fellows and other staff.