On CNN's Reliable Sources, Arianna Huffington was discussing the doctored pics that the Reuters photographer Adnan Hajj was caught making in Lebanon and Howard asked Arianna this:
KURTZ: Arianna Huffington, you're obviously on a different side of the political fence than Charles Johnson, but do you think this is another example of bloggers, you know, holding the mainstream media accountable?
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Download Thank you Howard, because he had been lobbing Johnson softballs the entire interview and probably didn't think he would have to answer for the horrific distortion made by CNN's Chuck Roberts who called Ned Lamont, "the al Qaeda candidate." It goes like this..
HUFFINGTON:...It was outrageous what Reuters allowed to appear. And the fact that they fired the photographer, it was the only legitimate response. And I want to take this a step further and say that we should hold all journalists accountable, whether they are photojournalists or not, for deceptive statements, whether they're images or words.
I mean, you had your own headline anchorman, Chuck Roberts, describe Lamont as the al Qaeda candidate. This is an equally deceitful, fraudulent, fabricated statement. There should be zero tolerance for all those deceits, whether in images or words.
KURTZ: Well, what Chuck Roberts said, according to the transcript, was that some are calling Ned Lamont the al Qaeda candidate. But it's certainly not a formulation I would have used.
Nobody is blaming Howard Kurtz for saying it so that is not a defense against it. Soon after--Arianna checked on Kurtz's response to her and guess what she found?
Indeed, an exhaustive Lexis Nexis search confirms that no one has called Lamont "the Al Qaeda candidate." Except for Chuck Roberts. In fact, you know what you find if you Google “Al Qaeda candidate”? A lot of references to John Kerry being smeared by the RNC and its cronies during the 2004 election. Clearly, Lamont as “tha Al Qaeda candidate” is the latest rendition of an old G.O.P. tune.
Why is it that the media allows Ned Lamont's name to be dragged through the mud simply because he had the guts to take on Joe Lieberman--and defeat him?
HUFFINGTON: You cannot find a single person who called Lamont the al Qaeda candidate, except Chuck Roberts. And what have been the consequences when it comes to Chuck Roberts? Has he been demoted to be covering Paris Hilton or entertainment news? ... It's about time that there is that same kind of accountability that Charles is demanding from photojournalists from journalists, as well.
So I ask, why isn't Chuck Roberts pounding the Paris Hilton beat as Arianna suggests?
