Amid Conflict of Interest Questions, Howard Kurtz Knocks CNN – On CNN

The balance for Howard Kurtz between his column at the Washington Post and his show at CNN was on display and in question this weekend.

While Kurtz can at times appear like an ombudsman on his Reliable Sources Sunday show, the Washington Post’s ombudsman was raising the ‘conflict of interest’ question.

Kurtz conducted a segment about Rep. Alan Grayson’s “whore” comment last week, and the reaction it received in the media. While FNC spent significant time covering the incident (including an ambush interview of Grayson himself), “there were a handful of mentions on CNN and MSNBC,” said Kurtz.

He said, “If Michele Bachmann or Joe Wilson the, ‘You Lie’ congressman had called somebody a whore, MSNBC would be apoplectic.”

While his guests generally agreed with his point, there was not a lot of outrage on set either. But at the end of the segment, Kurtz concluded, “I think it should have been more of a story on CNN as well.”

It made for an interesting moment in the wake of questions from Andrew Alexander, WaPo’s ombudsman, about Kurtz’ potential conflict of interest:

Kurtz, a workhorse of a reporter, has a sizable following in print, online and on the air. But being paid by CNN presents an inescapable conflict that is at odds with Post rules. They state that a reporter or editor “cannot accept payment from any person, company or organization that he or she covers.” There can be exceptions for some groups, such as broadcast organizations, “unless the reporter or editor is involved in coverage of them.”

In the story, Kurtz disputed any conflict. “My track record makes clear that I’ve been as aggressive toward CNN – and The Washington Post, for that matter – as I would be if I didn’t host a weekly program there,” Kurtz said.

The segment is one small piece of evidence that the CNN host doesn’t hold back when giving his take on the network airing his show – there are many more. In this media environment where so many networks have partnerships and sharing deals with other outlets, these types of questions are bound to come up. (For example – here’s CNBC correspondent and MSNBC anchor John Harwood writing about Fox News in the New York Times.) The questions are likely to continue and increase, but Kurtz has done a good job serving as a model of someone put in a position to balance two separate jobs.

Here’s the segment:

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