"If a scholar or expert gets paid to do some work for the government, should he or she disclose that if he writes a paper, essay or op-ed on the same or similar subject? If this is the ethical standard, it is an entirely new standard." So says syndicated columnist Maggie Gallagher, defending against revelations and accusations by Howard Kurtz of the Washington Post (warning: reg required) that she neglected to disclose that she was paid by the Administration for Children and Families Home Page (part of the Department of Health and Human Services) for consulting work inteded to promote the Administration's "pro-marriage" policies in 2002. Gallagher took a pro-Administration stance repeatedly in her column that same year. Gallagher ultimately cops out with, "I should have disclosed a government contract when I later wrote about the Bush marriage initiative. I would have, if I had remembered it." After Armstrong Willaims got caught with his pants down, is "honesty" old and busted, and "I don't remember" the new hotness? (via tp)
posted by mkultra on Jan 26, 2005 - 40 comments

"Frankly, part of our problem is a lot of the press are afraid to travel very much, so they sit in Baghdad and they publish rumors," Paul Wolfowitz declared Tuesday - a slur that didn't sit well with a lot of journalists risking their lives in Baghdad and elsewhere in Iraq. After callouts from Howard Kurtz, Maureen Dowd and Editor & Publisher's new rabble-rousing chief, Greg Mitchell, Wolfowitz has submitted an apology. (PDF version.) Ever helpful, Wonkette supplies a translation. (mostly via Romenesko)
posted by soyjoy on Jun 24, 2004 - 10 comments

Bush in Baghdad, Behind the Scenes. Drudge has posted Washington Post reporter Mike Allen's raw notes from the 2-day secret whirlwind trip to Iraq. It reads like a script from "The West Wing." (The stripped-down finished article appears in Friday's Post.) Meanwhile, some in the journalism field are pissed, says Howard Kurtz. Says one: "Reporters are in the business of telling the truth. They can't decide it's okay to lie sometimes because it serves a larger truth or good cause."
posted by PrinceValium on Nov 27, 2003 - 59 comments

"It's the dirty little secret of punditry being exposed, that a lot of people can do it." Howard Kurtz welcomes us "to the blogosphere, a rapidly expanding universe where legions of ordinary folks are launching Weblogs...." Why haven't I heard of this before? 8^)
posted by BGM on Apr 22, 2002 - 5 comments

Howard Kurtz gives Henry "Amazon at 400" Blodget the drubbing he ought to have received 18 months ago. And as Kurtz explains, Blodget did receive it, in the legacy media (I think it's called the legacy media because they're what will be left standing when the few remaining dotcom content sites finally die). But no, the dead-tree writers were all wrong. They just didn't get it. Except they weren't. And they did. Those that sneered are now largely (and deservedly) gone. And all us print and TV people are left to ask: Why did any of you ever buy into this BS in the first place? We tried to warn you!
posted by aaron on Mar 12, 2001 - 17 comments