CNBC's Kudlow Abuses Platform
Media Matters issues open letter to CNBC President calling for action
Washington, D.C. -- Today, Media Matters for America President Eric Burns issued an open letter to CNBC President Mark Hoffman expressing concern over CNBC host Larry Kudlow's use of air time to further his potential candidacy for the U.S. Senate.
Kudlow recently expressed interest in running against Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) in 2010 and is reportedly headlining a fundraiser for the National Republican Congressional Committee on March 24. His potential candidacy raises questions beyond the accuracy of his reporting; CNBC has an obligation to its viewers to assure them Kudlow's reporting is not being compromised by his political aspirations.
Burns' letter says in part, "He is either a journalist or a candidate; he cannot be both. ... As a private citizen, Kudlow has a right to explore a run for public office, but using his platform as a CNBC host to further his political ambitions jeopardizes the integrity of your network."
FULL TEXT OF LETTER INCLUDED BELOW:
March 20, 2009
Mark Hoffman
President, CNBC
900 Sylvan Ave
Englewood Cliffs, NJ 07632
Dear Mr. Hoffman,
In light of CNBC host Larry Kudlow's recently expressed interest in running for the U.S. Senate, we feel compelled to express our concern for the credibility of your network. Mr. Kudlow is either a journalist or a candidate; he cannot be both.
The integrity of Mr. Kudlow's coverage of any issue of national import is compromised by his reported Senate aspirations. Viewers have no way of knowing whether his interviews or commentaries are affected in any way by his interest in running. For example, in a segment from his March 17 show, Mr. Kudlow interviewed Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell and asked the senator leading questions about the Senate Republican agenda. Viewers should not have to wonder whether Mr. Kudlow's questions were motivated even in part by his potential political ambitions.
Further, on March 17, Mr. Kudlow singled out Sen. Chris Dodd out when discussing the legislative effort divest AIG employees of their bonuses by means of, as he described it, "a sales tax? Senator Dodd wants to put a tax on it, or somebody wants to put a tax on it?" Such commentary inevitably raises the question of whether Mr. Kudlow singled out Sen. Dodd appropriately, or if he was motivated, consciously or not, by political aspirations. Regardless of whether Mr. Kudlow intends to keep his potential Senate run completely separate from his job as a CNBC journalist, the very fact that he is considering such a run raises questions that compromise his work for CNBC.
Moreover, Mr. Kudlow has on at least one occasion actually attacked Sen. Dodd on his show. Less than three weeks before reportedly voicing his interest in a Senate run, Mr. Kudlow stated on February 13 that Sen. Chris Dodd, his potential opponent, "has yet to divulge fully his sweetheart mortgage deals with the former Countrywide. He's re-fi'ed his mortgages, but we don't know those documents, either. Instead of being impeached, he's still around."
Further complicating matters, Mr. Kudlow also is slated to headline a March 24 fundraiser for the National Republican Congressional Committee.
As a private citizen, Mr. Kudlow has a right to explore a run for public office, but using his platform as a CNBC host to further his political ambitions jeopardizes the integrity of your network. We ask that CNBC require he make a decision about his candidacy and, should he decide to run for office, take a leave of absence until the conclusion of the campaign.
Eric Burns
President, Media Matters For America
RSS Feeds
Aside from the typos, I agree. And, if anyone from MMFA is watching, where are the comments from previous threads , two or three or four years ago? I 'm especially interested in the 'If it's Sunday.. thread, and Brock's counter argument(s)'
Seriously, where can one access those discussion threads? My com just shows everything as 'County Fair" and zippo...
Kudlow won't run. His chances are as weak as his comb over.
By the time election day '10 rolls around, half of his base will be behind bars as convicted felons and have lost their right to vote.
He's just trying to hold onto the 750 schmucks still dumb enough to buy his act.
Good job. For the sake of our democracy, let's keep the pressure on anyone who assumes the roll of journalist to live up to that high calling.
Was media matters bothered at all when Al Franken was considering a Senate run while on the air at Air America? Or was it a non-issue because no one was listening anyhow. If they didn't care however than this is pure hipocrisy.
Do you really not understand that there's a big difference between reporting as a journalist on a business news channel and being a partisan commentator on a partisan radio network? Seriously?
Your apparent inability to distinguish between a journalist and an opinionated commentator is pure ignorance.
LuLu are you serious? I bet most on this forum consider Air America un biased news, form a trustworthy organization. So in respect to giving Franken a pass because he is a liberal, doesn't hold much mustard with me. As far as Kudlow pressing Dodd unless he is lying, Dodd is fair game just like any politician regardless of what state or district he lives in.
When you can provide a concrete example of someone doing that, then you might have half a point.
But this was about you conflating two different things - a purported journalist abusing his platform versus an admitted partisan commentator!
If other people do something wrong, like thinking that Air America is unbiased news, it doesn't excuse YOUR error here. It doesn't change the fact that you are either too ignorant to understand the difference between the two people, or you understand the difference but were hoping that we wouldn't. Neither option makes you look very credible.
The ignorant hypocrite is you, not MMfA. How can it possibly affect reality if there are some people here who may believe that Air America is straight news? A wrong opinion about a fact doesn't change that fact. Air America is not a non-biased, non-partisan news source, and Al Franken was not an unbiased journalist.
Facts have a liberal bias. Comparing Franken to Kudlow is unfair, and that's what you did, and that's what I am calling you on.
Most on this forum consider Air America unbiased? You obviously have no idea who your audience is here. That excuse is as absurd as it is disingenuous.
Not only do most people here understand that Air America, is and always has been, liberal radio, AA has made no bones about the fact that they are a radio network of liberal talkers. And really what are you saying? At the time Franken was doing his show, Jerry Fricken Springer had the time slot just before him. As if anyone took them seriously in the first place.
No. You may not get this, but unlike Fox News, Air America made no damn pretenses about their political identity. They do so mostly because they are not afraid to admit out loud that they're liberals but also because being open about your agenda, your beliefs, and defending them, is a fundamental American value.
As far as Kudlow goes, if he holds aspirations for public office, then launching attacks on opponents from his lofty cable network, behind the guise of neutrality, then that is a cowardly abuse of his civic duty as a reporter. It would be a breech of the public trust and just the kind of blatant self aggrandizement for which the Republican Party is so renown.
to roundhouse and lu, ALL "reporters" have a personal bias. If you want to see unbiased news watch your local news and hear about which roads are closed and how many fires were in your area yesterday. ALL national/cable news has some personal slant, you can only hope that you get both sides of the issue, or you switch channels to get more than 1 view. With that said if Kudlow was blatantly lying to improve his personal position than he is wrong, if what he is claiming is accurate, than Dodd is fair game. Similar to both sides don't watch it if you don't like it.
Who said Dodd wasn't fair game? We're just saying if Kudlow is attacking his opponent from his show, then the game is fixed.
The simple truth is you made an unbelievably dishonest argument about Air America, which brings into question your integrity as a good faith actor. You are not to be trusted on that count, and you are not to be taken seriously on the other count of Kudlow violating the public trust.
I will not accept that just don't watch it crap, I will not not accept your just leave well enough alone and nor would you if the tables were turned. So just take a big step away from your lying nonsense, Frank.
If Rush Limbaugh were to run, and use HIS SHOW as a platform to bloster his candidacy and MMFA were to take issue with THAT, then you'd have a point. Franken and Kudlow are two completely different cases.