Howard Kurtz
Washington has been paralyzed by two political parties beholden to big-money interests, their own extremes and a cable culture that amplifies inflammatory attacks. Kurtz examines how President Obama was swept into office on a wave of unrealistically high expectations, only to be stymied by the reality of Beltway gridlock, relentless partisanship and a fickle media. With an eye to the future, Kurtz looks at what lies ahead for a second Obama term in conjuction with a divided Congress and how today's news will affect all parties.
While others decry a Wild West environment where anyone can say anything, Kurtz applauds the technology that empowers ordinary citizens and breaks the stranglehold of the establishment media. Journalists dismiss this movement at their peril, while consumers must learn to navigate this universe of insta-news and perpetual punditry by sorting facts from rumor and slander.
The old journalistic establishment is dying from a series of self-inflicted wounds: arrogance, inaccuracy, blandness and the failure to adapt to a digital revolution that is slowly strangling newspapers. A reporter who predicted that newspapers faced irrelevance in the early 1990s, Kurtz offers a cold-eyed analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the YouTube age and whether print publications can survive.
Media and Journalism
After decades of conservative distrust, the media are now feeling the heat from disgusted liberals who see journalists as part of a corporate elite that abetted the Iraq war, coddled the Bush administration and are undermining the Obama White House. Kurtz explores the vitriolic atmosphere, the shortcomings of the press, and how some partisans on both sides are more interested in demonization than fairness.
In this presentation, Kurtz examines how he became active on Facebook and Twitter and wound up with over 30,000 Twitter followers. He discusses how these social networks, especially Twitter, have become an important source of breaking news; given more influence to ordinary folks to distribute and comment on news; how network anchors and other media hotshots are trying to tap into the culture and share more of themselves; and how it's also become a land mine that has ended some journalistic careers.
One of America’s most respected media analysts, Howard Kurtz turns his critical eye toward politics, the press and how new media is changing the face of journalism.
Howard Kurtz is the nation’s top media critic, a best-selling author and television host, who draws on three decades of experience as a Washington journalist. He is also a political blogger and Twitter addict who stays abreast of the latest trends in the Old Media and New Media worlds alike. As the host of CNN’s Reliable Sources, Kurtz matches wits with the likes of Diane Sawyer, Katie Couric, Barbara Walters, Ted Koppel, Bob Woodward and others who sit atop the media profession. A 29-year veteran of The Washington Post, he covered eight presidential campaigns and the fallout from war, scandal and impeachment. He is also an investigative journalist who exposed the two biggest journalistic frauds of the last decade: Jayson Blair of The New York Times and Jack Kelley of USA Today. Widely recognized as the leading reporter in holding the media accountable, Kurtz functions as a kind of internal affairs cop. He explores questions of bias, blunders, sensationalism and celebrity fixation in the profession that loves to point fingers at everyone else.
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