Hello Everyone:

I was really glad to see Howard Kurtz bring up and discuss this alarming quote from Lee Cowan of NBC News on his CNN program Reliable Sources:

LEE COWAN, NBC NEWS: "You know, I think from the reporter's point of view, it's almost hard to remain objective, because it's infectious energy. I think it sort of goes against your core to say that as a reporter, but..."

Right below is the transcript of this part of the CNN Reliable Sources program which discusses this quote.

This quote from Lee Cowan of NBC News was also brought up on Drudge:

http://www.drudgereport.com/

NBC admits Obama Bias: 'It's hard to stay objective covering this guy'...

http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowlDC/television/journo_love_for_obama_74502.asp

Tuesday, Jan 08

Journo Love for Obama

Posted by Patrick | 12:27 PM | Television

Here are some key points that Howard Kurtz brought up in the transcript below about Obama's free media ride which are very important for all people to very seriously think about and consider in my opinion:

1) KURTZ: "Kate Snow, I give Lee Cowan credit for raising that issue. Is it hard to remain objective in the face of this Obama phenomenon?"

2) KURTZ: "Obama was riding a huge media wave out of Iowa. Comparisons to JFK. He is an inspiring speaker, a man who can heal racial divisions. "Newsweek" this week says "Was he a media-created savior?"

So, my question is, is he benefiting, at least at the margins, from sympathetic coverage?"

3) KURTZ: "Hillary has been on the national stage for 16 years. Obama is a new and exciting, and, as Terry says, inspirational figure. But to some degree, are journalists rooting for the Obama story?"

4) KURTZ: "Well -- but Kate Snow, you mentioned the point that everybody -- all candidates ought to be held to the same standard. The Hillary camp has complained, as you know -- I bet you've gotten this once or twice yourself -- that the press doesn't hold Obama to the same kind of scrutiny, particularly once he became at least a front-runner or a co-front-runner."

That there is even this discussion going on right now about Obama who is supposed to be a serious Presidential candidate when so much is on the line in the 2008 election is absolutely ridiculous in my opinion!

When talking to people in the field in the primary states where we are working for Hillary, this is definitely a very fair point to be bringing up with undecided people and with the soft supporters of other candidates in my opinion!

People have got to very clearly understand that it is a very dangerous thing to nominate a candidate who is making great speeches while showing very little substance on the issues and who is getting a free ride in the media on his record!

Bush in 2000 ran on much of what Obama is talking about right now:

1) He said that he would be a uniter and not a divider.

2) He talked against nation building and about a humble foreign policy.

3) He was liked more than Gore and was the candidate who people would rather have a beer with.

Yet because Bush was inexperienced in foreign policy while being a "rock star" & "media darling" at that time, he was elected to the Presidency and then let his White House be hijacked by Neocon ideologues when he was in way over his head after 9/11!

This is why Obama brings out a lot of fear in me and NOT any "Hope."  We do not need a possible repeat of 2000 where an untested and an unproven candidate gets in the White House for all of the wrong reasons (being given a free ride by the media mainly because of his personal charisma and emotional appeal) and then we are stuck again for a long time like how we are with Bush right now!

Mitch Dworkin

http://www.securingamerica.com/

http://securingamerica.com/ccn/node/10756
StopIranWar.com: "War is not the answer"
Submitted by Wes Clark on February 21, 2007 - 11:40am.

http://www.securingamerica.com/ccn/node/7191
Listen to Gen. Wes Clark fight for Dems on Sean Hannity's radio program: An excellent example for all of us to follow and what we all need to be doing to help fight back against extreme right wing Neocon smear propaganda!

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http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0801/13/rs.01.html

CNN RELIABLE SOURCES

Media Get It Wrong; How Did Hillary Win in New Hampshire?

Aired January 13, 2008 - 10:00   ET

HOWARD KURTZ, HOST: When we come back...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (SINGING): I've got a crush Obama

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KURTZ: Maybe that Obama girl on the Internet wasn't the only one with a crush on Barack. Is the candidate's charisma melting even some hard-bitten journalists?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KURTZ: The reporters covering Barack Obama in New Hampshire were struck by the huge crowds he was drawing and the emotion he was generating, but did they become star struck?

NBC correspondent Lee Cowan raised the question in a video on the network's Web site.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEE COWAN, NBC NEWS: You know, I think from the reporter's point of view, it's almost hard to remain objective, because it's infectious energy. I think it sort of goes against your core to say that as a reporter, but...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KURTZ: Kate Snow, I give Lee Cowan credit for raising that issue. Is it hard to remain objective in the face of this Obama phenomenon?

KATE SNOW, "GOOD MORNING AMERICA": Well, you know, I don't cover Obama, full disclosure. I cover Clinton. And I've been to a couple of Obama events. And I will say the contrast between his events and hers is striking.

I mean, his events -- he is like a rock star. You go to these events and the crowds are enormous, there's an energy in the room. And I have written about that on our Web site. I wrote a piece once comparing and contrasting just the style and this sort of presentation difference between the two of them, so I can see his point.

I mean, it's easy to kind of get swept up in that, but, you know, I think we're all -- we're trying to be good journalists here and we're trying to cover these stories with fairness. And, you know, we have to do due diligence and be just as critical, look at them with just as critical eye as we would at any candidate, no matter how large their crowds are.

KURTZ: Obama was riding a huge media wave out of Iowa. Comparisons to JFK. He is an inspiring speaker, a man who can heal racial divisions. "Newsweek" this week says "Was he a media-created savior?"

So, my question is, is he benefiting, at least at the margins, from sympathetic coverage?

TERENCE SMITH, FMR. MEDIA CORRESPONDENT, "PBS NEWS HOUR": Oh, absolutely. I mean, he is a charismatic figure, there's no question about it, as Kate suggests. And so people are somewhat swept up in that. There is a feel good emotion around the Obama campaign that -- as though it's bringing out the best in us, the very idea that an African-American could be created equally, and well, and even be a promising candidate for president. So...

KURTZ: And I've heard some conservatives say that, people who ordinarily would not be a sympathetic...

(CROSSTALK)

SMITH: David Brooks has written to that effect. So people want to -- want this to work, and yet I hope and believe they are asking questions not about how he's saying things, but about what he's saying as well.

KURTZ: Hillary has been on the national stage for 16 years. Obama is a new and exciting, and, as Terry says, inspirational figure. But to some degree, are journalists rooting for the Obama story?

JOHN HARRIS, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, THE POLITICO: It wouldn't surprise me that there's some of that. You know, even when we were colleagues, when I was at "The Washington Post," Howie, this is when I first noticed this. Almost a couple years ago, you would send a reporter out with Obama, and it was like they needed to go through detox when they came back -- "Oh, he's so impressive, he's so charismatic," and we're kind of like, "Down Boy."

And so...

KURTZ: You're going to talk reporters down?

HARRIS: I felt that I did. And I didn't quite get what they were saying. Like, well, what's so great about it?

In any event, what Lee Cowan said, is it's hard. OK, it's hard. Do it. Detach yourself. Nobody cares about our opinions.

KURTZ: Right.

Well -- but Kate Snow, you mentioned the point that everybody -- all candidates ought to be held to the same standard. The Hillary camp has complained, as you know -- I bet you've gotten this once or twice yourself -- that the press doesn't hold Obama to the same kind of scrutiny, particularly once he became at least a front-runner or a co-front-runner.

SNOW: Yes, and I was just going to say, what you're -- what you're talking about right now is almost precisely what Bill Clinton had been saying, particularly in the last few days on talk radio. He's been bringing this up again and again.

He thinks that the press is giving essentially a free ride to Barack Obama. He thinks that we haven't been scrutinizing his record, particularly when it comes to some of the statements he's made about Iraq and the Iraq war.

Bill Clinton has been saying, you know, until he's blue in the face that we're not looking hard enough for inconsistencies in statements that Barack Obama has made. Now, the Obama camp has a full and ready response to that as well. They say he's not inconsistent.

KURTZ: Just briefly, do you want to challenge that?

SMITH: Yes. I've heard a lot of reporting on his limited experience, about he has no great depth in some of these issues. So it's not fair to suggest -- not that Kate is -- that it's been all one-sided.

KURTZ: Well, you've nicely...

SNOW: No, I'm not suggesting. I'm repeating what Bill Clinton has been saying.

KURTZ: All right. Well, you've nicely cued up what's ahead in our program.

But first, let me thank Kate Snow in New York, John Harris, Terry Smith, for joining us this morning...