Kurtz: Shoe Thrower Doesn’t Deserve “Reporter” Label

Earlier today, Howard Kurtz held his weekly chat where he answered several questions — as might be expected — about President Bush and the Iraqi shoe-throwing incident (as well as other topics.) Some excerpts:

Ocala, Fla.: Can we expect American journalists to follow the lead of their Iraqi colleague and get tougher with the president? Howard Kurtz: I knew it! I was telling people yesterday, just wait, some folks will say this is how American reporters should have been treating the president. Perhaps you’re being sarcastic. Television has had a grand time replaying the footage, and I suppose it’s humorous, and Bush handled it well. But it still makes me uneasy. What if the shoes had been laced with something dangerous? I find it fairly amazing that this guy could get so close as to hurl something hard at the president. … Medord, Ore.: Good morning, Mr Kurtz. May I inquire as to why you apparently felt compelled to belittle Iraqi reporter Muntather Zaidi by referring to him as a “reporter” (ironic quotation marks yours)? I read carefully that section for context and saw no justification offered for that demeaning and belittling use of pejorative quotation marks. I don’t know what he did to earn your ridicule — especially when you actually refer to people like Blanquita Cullum and Jane Hamsher as journalists without the dripping sarcasm. I am genuinely curious. Thanks. washingtonpost.com: Jumping the Gun (Post, Dec. 15) Howard Kurtz: I happen to have a master’s degree in journalism, and in my studies, I have never encountered our professional duties being defined as including throwing shoes at public officials. Someone who does that is not, in my humble view, as “reporter.” … Last word on the “shoe” incident: If it were an Iraqi politician who threw the shoe, I could understand; that’s not saying I condone it, just that I could understand how, in an environment where politicans throw things (including punches), it could happen. However, a journalist, regardless of where they are from, should have a higher, impartial standard in which they cover the news, even if they represent a news organization with a political “bent”; they should not be making or even be part of the news they’re covering. Howard Kurtz: Well said.

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