It’s an understandable error. To the Eastern press, we Rostrafarians all look and sound alike; so debonnaire and intelligent. What’s really embarrassing for media watchdog Kurtz is that he didn’t correct the error in his purported interview with Issa in a Nov. 27 Daily Beast column until Jan. 11, although by his own admission he was told of the error on Nov. 29.
Moreover, Kurtz didn’t act until after learning that another reporter, Ryan Lizza of the New Yorker, had heard of the error while Lizza was researching an article about Issa. Kurtz’ explanation didn’t wash with Craig Silverman, publisher of Regret The Error.
Topsy-turvy media critic Howard Kurtz mistook Kurt Bardella for Darrell Issa
“That’s not an acceptable explanation from Kurtz. The fact that he only corrected the piece after a reporter asked him about it suggests Kurtz had no intention of fixing and acknowledging his error.
He corrected because he got caught.”
Kurtz might have been better off rewriting the whole article, instead of making the minimal changes that he did to the original article. Perhaps Kurtz couldn’t bear to part with his lead:
Darrell Issa is trying very hard to sound reasonable.
“The bureaucracy is innately susceptible to waste, fraud and abuse,” the congressman tells me in an earnest tone. “It has nothing to do with which party occupies the Oval Office.”
Here is how the beginning reads now, including an explanatory paragraph about his mistake.
Darrell Issa is itching to delve into Democratic malfeasance as the House’s tough-talking oversight boss. His spokesman talks with Howard Kurtz about how partisan the congressman’s probes will be.
Darrell Issa is trying very hard to sound reasonable.
“The bureaucracy is innately susceptible to waste, fraud and abuse,” his chief spokesman, Kurt Bardella, tells me in an earnest tone. “It has nothing to do with which party occupies the Oval Office.
Kurtz might have produced better journalism had he spent more time verifying who he was speaking to and less time telling readers how they should think about “Tea Party renegades,” and other such species exotic to a Washington-based MSM reporter. And he wouldn’t have made such ill-informed asides such as saying Issa has a tendency “to refer to himself in the third person.”
At least since Kurtz has left the Washington Post, he no longer has that conflict-of-interest issue hanging over his head. You know, the one about Kurtz writing in WaPo about CNN as a media critic, when he’s paid to appear on CNN.
And congratulations to Kurt Bardella on his recent promotion. Wouldn’t it be nice for some reporter to mistake him for President Obama? Now that would be an interesting story.
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This article represents the opinion of Bradley J. Fikes and not necessarily that of his employer, the North County Times.
Comments 2
Hi Brad:
Are we right in assuming the interview in question was
a Phoner, or did Mr. Kurtz speak to Kurt in person? It
would be even funnier if the latter.
Author
Yup, Kurtz said it was a phoner. From his soi-disant correction, here’s Kurtz’ pathetic attempt to blame Bardella for his own mistake:
That afternoon my phone rang, I heard the words “Darrell Issa” and I thanked the congressman for calling. I asked why “you” made various statements about the president and congressional oversight, and he responded. I called him “Congressman” several times during our discussion. I later emailed Bardella, on Nov. 24, and said: “Hey, thanks for getting me the congressman so quickly. He mentioned the minority having sent 46 letters to the chairman or subcommittee chairmen and getting only six responses. Would you have some or all of the ones that drew no response? Thanks.”