Howard Kurtz: Why Isn’t Obama Getting More Credit for Gaddafi’s Death?
I'm not sure what press reports media analyst Howard Kurtz observed since Thursday's announcement that Moammar Gaddafi had been killed in Libya, but they certainly can't be what most people in this country have seen. On CNN's “Reliable Sources” Sunday, Kurtz actually asked his guests why the press aren't giving President Obama more credit (video follows with transcript and commentary): HOWARD KURTZ, HOST: Remember when President Obama was getting pounded in the press for dragging his feet on Libya? Eight months later, we got this news. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) REPORTER: Three sources, all rebel sources, are saying that Gadhafi has, in fact, been killed. (END VIDEO CLIP) KURTZ: Did most journalists give credit to the president when it paid off? I must have missed that. “Remember when President Obama was getting pounded in the press for dragging his feet on Libya?” No, I don't. Quite the contrary, back in March, Kurtz himself scolded the media for drumbeating war again and not asking skeptical questions about this mission: KURTZ ON MARCH 20, 2011: One major question about the assault on Libya, what happened to the media's skepticism? U.S. warplanes hitting targets in Libya for a second day today. And I have to say this at the outset — the media get excited by war, the journalistic adrenaline starts pumping as we talk about warships and warplanes and cruise missiles, and we put up the maps and we have the retired generals on. And sometimes something is lost in that initial excitement. It reminds me of eight years ago this very weekend, when Shock and Awe was rained down upon Baghdad and the media utterly failed to ask skeptical questions. So, I looked at my “New York Times” this morning, went through all the sections, I looked at my “Washington Post” this morning and looked through all the sections. Didn't see any skeptical articles, columns, editorials about this no-fly position. Two fine newspapers, don't see the skeptical questions. What if there's a long-term stalemate here? What is this goes on and on? What if there are American casualties? Do you stop this operation with Gadhafi still in power?
Posted by
on October 23, 2011. Filed under