Howard Kurtz: October 10, 2010 - October 16, 2010

Cable news shrinks the electoral landscape

The increasing polarization of cable news is transforming, and in some ways shrinking, the electoral landscape. What has emerged is a form of narrowcasting, allowing candidates a welcoming platform that helps them avoid hostile press questioning and, in some cases, minimize the slog and the slip-ups of retail campaigning. Read more here.

By Howard Kurtz  | October 11, 2010; 6:42 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (0)
Categories:  Latest stories, Top story  | Tags:  Bill O'Reilly, CNN, Chris Matthews, Christine O'Donnell, Fox, Glenn Beck, Keith Olbermann, MSNBC, Obama, Rachel Maddow, Sean Hannity, Sharron Angle, cable news, midterms  
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Journalism as caricature: The Rahmbo image

Rahm Emanuel's candidate may have won the presidency, but that didn't dull Emanuel's serrated edge. "He's a guy who stabbed a steak knife into the table at Doe's restaurant after Bill Clinton's election," his former colleague Paul Begala recalls. "He was screaming about people screwing us in the campaign." The media portrait of the man dubbed Rahmbo -- the foul-mouthed, take-no-prisoners, twist-your-arm-out-of-its-socket operative -- is grounded in reality. But it isn't the whole picture. Most journalists, to some degree, are caricaturists. We may be interested in nuance and context, but the compression of reporting often reduces people to a couple of attributes at best. You know the shorthand: "tough-talking" and "aggressive," or "soft-spoken" and "mild-mannered." Guess which sells better at the box office? Read the rest here.

By Howard Kurtz  | October 10, 2010; 10:52 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (1)
Categories:  Latest stories, Top story  | Tags:  ABC, Bill Marimow, Ed Henry, MSNBC, Obama, Paul Begala, Phil Griffin, Philadelphia Inquirer, Rahm Emanuel, White House, journalism, media  
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Chrstine O'Donnell: No way I'm a witch!

By Howard Kurtz  | October 10, 2010; 7:23 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (0)
Categories:  Video  
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Woodward on shielding secret sources

By Howard Kurtz  | October 10, 2010; 2:59 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (0)
Categories:  Video  
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