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| CNN's Howard Kurtz issues on-camera mea culpa for Jason Collins column | CNN's Howard Kurtz issues on-camera mea culpa for Jason Collins column |
| (4 months later) | |
| If your job involves holding the US media to account when it comes up short, then be fully prepared to prostrate yourself before it in the event of your own moment of questionable judgement. | If your job involves holding the US media to account when it comes up short, then be fully prepared to prostrate yourself before it in the event of your own moment of questionable judgement. |
| And so it was that Howard Kurtz took to his regular Sunday slot as host of CNN's Reliable Sources, and grovelled for forgiveness and a chance to win back the trust of viewers. | And so it was that Howard Kurtz took to his regular Sunday slot as host of CNN's Reliable Sources, and grovelled for forgiveness and a chance to win back the trust of viewers. |
| In an embarrassing mea culpa of some magnitude, Kurtz, a former media reporter for the Washington Post as well as a CNN presenter, put his hands up to bungling a story about the first openly gay player in one of the major US professional team sports. | In an embarrassing mea culpa of some magnitude, Kurtz, a former media reporter for the Washington Post as well as a CNN presenter, put his hands up to bungling a story about the first openly gay player in one of the major US professional team sports. |
| Jason Collins, a veteran NBA center who this season played with the Boston Celtics and the Washington Wizards, won plaudits last week when he came out in an article written for Sports Illustrated magazine. But not from Kurtz, who in his column for the Daily Beast wanted instead to focus what hadn't been written about: Collin's engagement to a woman. | Jason Collins, a veteran NBA center who this season played with the Boston Celtics and the Washington Wizards, won plaudits last week when he came out in an article written for Sports Illustrated magazine. But not from Kurtz, who in his column for the Daily Beast wanted instead to focus what hadn't been written about: Collin's engagement to a woman. |
| Only it had. In fact, if Kurtz had read as far as paragraph eight of the Sports Illustrated article, he would have read the words: "When I was younger I dated women. I even got engaged." | Only it had. In fact, if Kurtz had read as far as paragraph eight of the Sports Illustrated article, he would have read the words: "When I was younger I dated women. I even got engaged." |
| It got worse for Kurtz. Not only had he missed those crucial sentences when making up his mind that Collins had failed to give readers the full picture – he then went on to emphasise the mistake. First, he repeated his erroneous critique during a snigger-fest of a recorded segment for the Daily Download. | It got worse for Kurtz. Not only had he missed those crucial sentences when making up his mind that Collins had failed to give readers the full picture – he then went on to emphasise the mistake. First, he repeated his erroneous critique during a snigger-fest of a recorded segment for the Daily Download. |
| "Obviously he, in basketball terms, has played both sides of the court," Kurtz chortled, seemingly oblivious to the growing sound of schadenfreude-hungry media pundits rubbing their hands together. | "Obviously he, in basketball terms, has played both sides of the court," Kurtz chortled, seemingly oblivious to the growing sound of schadenfreude-hungry media pundits rubbing their hands together. |
| A botched attempt to make right the original piece didn't help either - the assertion that Collins had "left out one little bit" was changed to "downplayed one detail", in a somewhat disingenuous attempt to deflect the flak. | A botched attempt to make right the original piece didn't help either - the assertion that Collins had "left out one little bit" was changed to "downplayed one detail", in a somewhat disingenuous attempt to deflect the flak. |
| It was no good – the mistake was seized upon by Kurtz's fellow journalists and the Daily Beast saw no other choice than to fire their one-time star hire. | It was no good – the mistake was seized upon by Kurtz's fellow journalists and the Daily Beast saw no other choice than to fire their one-time star hire. |
| On Reliable Sources, the moment came the moment for Kurtz to turn, shame-faced, to the camera and apologise. Sincerely. And repeatedly. He said: | On Reliable Sources, the moment came the moment for Kurtz to turn, shame-faced, to the camera and apologise. Sincerely. And repeatedly. He said: |
| This show has always been about turning a critical lens on the media. This time the media mistake was mine, a big mistake, more than one in fact. | This show has always been about turning a critical lens on the media. This time the media mistake was mine, a big mistake, more than one in fact. |
| The piece continued in such self-flagellating tones, going on to list Kurtz's journalistic crimes: reading the Sports Illustrated article "too fast"; failing to give Collins a right to respond; showing insensitivity to the situation and joking about the sports star's sexuality; issuing an initial correction that was "not as complete or as full as it should have been". Kurtz had, he said, been wrong to have raised the engagement issue in the first place. Still to camera, he said: | The piece continued in such self-flagellating tones, going on to list Kurtz's journalistic crimes: reading the Sports Illustrated article "too fast"; failing to give Collins a right to respond; showing insensitivity to the situation and joking about the sports star's sexuality; issuing an initial correction that was "not as complete or as full as it should have been". Kurtz had, he said, been wrong to have raised the engagement issue in the first place. Still to camera, he said: |
| For all those reasons I apologise to readers, to viewers and most importantly to Jason Collins and his ex-fiancée. I hope this very candid response may rebuild your trust over time – it is something I am committed to do. | For all those reasons I apologise to readers, to viewers and most importantly to Jason Collins and his ex-fiancée. I hope this very candid response may rebuild your trust over time – it is something I am committed to do. |
| It was an apology that you couldn't fail to notice. Unless, of course, you let your mind wander after the opening few words … but when has that ever got anyone in trouble? | It was an apology that you couldn't fail to notice. Unless, of course, you let your mind wander after the opening few words … but when has that ever got anyone in trouble? |
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