So The Washington Post is selling access to its "own reporters" to corporate lobbyists -- and we learn about it not from Washington Post reporter Howard Kurtz, the nation's highest-profile media critic, but from Politico. (Kurtz, meanwhile, was relegated to playing damage control with a follow-up article featuring Post executive editor Marcus Brauchli denying that the newsroom will play any role in the lobbyist sessions. Kurtz neglected to mention any of the flurry of criticism the Post received over the proposed sessions.)
While Politico's Mike Allen was click here href="http://mediamatters.org/rd?to=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.usatoday.com%2Flife%2Fmovies%2Fnews%2F2008-02-03-blood-milkshake_N.htm">drinking Kurtz's milkshake, Kurtz was busy writing a click here href="http://mediamatters.org/rd?to=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.washingtonpost.com%2Fwp-dyn%2Fcontent%2Farticle%2F2009%2F07%2F01%2FAR2009070103938_pf.html">piece about whether "racial and gender identification" on the part of African-American women who cover Michelle Obama "produces a gauzier, more favorable portrayal of Obama." I don't recall Kurtz devoting a column to the possibility of white male reporters producing "gauzier" portrayals of their white male subjects than a more diverse news corps might.
And remember: All of this was in just four days.
Unfortunately, it is typical of Kurtz's work. Media Matters' Eric Boehlert describes it as Kurtz "playing dumb." And, indeed, it's hard to imagine that Kurtz really doesn't understand, for example, what's wrong with omitting any mention of Joe Scarbrough while claiming that MSNBC's liberal hosts lack "counterpoint." It's hard to imagine that he really doesn't get what's wrong with Mika Brzezinski allowing Rudy Giuliani to criticize Bill Clinton's affair without ever once pointing out Giuliani's own high-profile affair. Sixth-graders understand concepts like these.
But, to a certain extent, it just doesn't matter whether Kurtz is "playing dumb" or whether he is simply a bumbling and clueless reporter. Either way, he's squandering two extraordinary platforms.
