Howard Kurtz: My pretense hasn't been very consistent, since I've written lengthy pieces on both Joe and Mika. Morning Joe figured into my calculation, in that it's an opinionated show (with Scarborough balanced a little bit by Brzezinski) that no one would confuse with straight news. They get three hours; Matthews, Schultz Olbermann and Maddow are on from 5 to 11. But my point is the shrinking of garden-variety newscasts on MS during the day.
The question was obviously about Kurtz ignoring Scarborough's three hours in writing that MSNBC's "liberal evening programming" lacks sufficient "counterpoint." The problem in omitting any mention of Scarborough should be self-evident. But Kurtz's response indicates a complete failure to grasp this point. He responds that at some other time he has written about Scarborough. Well, fine -- but that doesn't make it OK to omit any mention of Scarborough from Monday's article. Not when Scarborough's three hours directly undermine the point Kurtz made in that article.
Can it really be possible that Kurtz doesn't understand the problem with failing to mention Scarborough in an article in which he writes "MSNBC is down to just five daytime hours of straight news, which once formed a counterpoint to its liberal evening programming"? Or is he just pretending?
Kurtz addressed the topic further Monday night, again via Twitter. Here he is at 10:09 p.m.: "Since I've written about Joe & Mika and watch it regularly, I'm as familiar with conservative-hosted Morning Joe as with MS's lib iineup [sic]."
OK, so why did he omit any mention of it, leaving the impression that MSNBC's "lib lineup" lacked a "counterpoint"?
A few minutes later, Kurtz Tweeted again: "I don't get the criticism, @markosm, since I included Joe in my math: 3 conservative hrs, 6 liberal hrs, and now 5 for 'regular' news at MS."
Kurtz may have included Scarborough in his "math," but he included neither Scarborough nor that "math" in his article. Somehow, Kurtz still can't grasp that concept -- or he pretends not to.
(For the record, Kurtz ignored responses pointing out that, in fact, he omitted Scarborough from his article. Also for the record: I don't agree with Kurtz's assessment that MSNBC features "6 liberal hours," but I won't address it now, as my primary point here is not that his assessments of such things are incorrect, but rather that Kurtz does not seem to understand basic concepts that should be second nature to someone in his position.)
A little later in his online discussion, a reader took issue with Kurtz's contention that Scarborough is "balanced a little bit" by co-host Mika Brzezinski:
Balanced by Mika?: I love Morning Joe and don't watch the evening chatter on any cable. I do not know what Mika's politics are, but I often find her marked by deference to her men (reminds me of a "powerful" woman in '40's screwball company). Today's show featured Mika interviewing noted philanderer Rudy Giuliani regarding Sanford and political affairs. Instead of having Rudy talk about his own broad and deep experience on the subject, including the use of public funds on mistresses, she allowed it to become a discourse on Bill Clinton. Oy.
Howard Kurtz: Look, it's Joe's show, he's a former Republican congressman and an unabashed conservative (albeit one who hasn't hesitated to criticize his party). Mika is a lifelong journalist, not a liberal advocate, with views that are certainly to the left of Scarborough's. All I said is that she added a little balance. It's not set up like Crossfire where their views have equal weight.
Once again, a reader's point appears to have flown over Kurtz's head. Does he really not see the problem with Mika Brzezinski hosting Rudy Giuliani and allowing him to criticize Bill Clinton's affair without ever once mentioning Giuliani's? How could he miss it? Isn't that the kind of thing that the nation's most famous media critic should notice. And, you know ... criticize?
The very next question made the same point:
"balanced by Mika": Hey Howie, here's an example of how Mika brings that liberal balance to the Scarborough show, while interviewing Rudy Giuliani about adulterous politicians:
"Giuliani "Let's look at Bill Clinton."
Brzezinski: "Yeah.--
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