Matthews Slams Reporter For Citing Blogs: "Let's Stick To Journalism. I Don't Do That Here" (VIDEO)

On "Hardball" Thursday, Chris Matthews issued a stern rebuke to NY Daily News reporter Liz Benjamin when she cited blogs on the possible "affair question" with regard to Caroline Kennedy's withdrawal from consideration for the New York Senate seat.

Earlier in the segment Matthews speculated that the 'personal problem' that was given as Kennedy's reason for withdrawing was her marriage to Edwin Schlossberg. But when Benjamin said that the "affair question" was surfacing on blogs, Matthews abruptly cut her off: "Let's stick to journalism. I don't do that here. If it's just blogging let's drop it."

Read more about Kennedy's withdrawal and the various reasons that have been given as explanations for the sudden reversal.

Comments

[johnwinner]

Matthews is absolutely correct. While many blogs produce excellent commentary, only a couple actually engage in journalism which requires cross-checking to ascertain substance. Americans have got to learn the big difference between fact and opinion, a difference intentionally obscured by the GOP and their hacks in every media. Only then will we have a real journalism practiced here agin.

[jfor]

Dude, your speaking about Chris Mathews. This is the guy who spews opinion as fact everyday. This guy gushes over political leaders like they are hollywood stars. His show reminds me much more of Entertainment Tonight than Sixty Minutes but hey each to his own.

[derekc06]

you clearly haven't seen entertainment tonight...

[brocko]

You said it! Matthews and Olbermann are the WORST journalists on the tube. MSNBC is the reason I started listening to and reading BBC, Al-Jazeera and RTE news. If you want real news without a slant, I highly recommend these sites. They still do REAL JOURNALISM.

[wagonjak]

LoserJohn-I see more real journalism on sites like Talking Points Memo, digby, FireDogLake, Glenn Greenwald, Andrew Sullivan and others then I do on the "real" news sites like WaPo or NY Times...al­l with links and well-reasoned arguments.

And don't even get me started on the psuedo-journalism of Matthews..­.which is more gossip then anything to do with real news. Real journalism, other then on blogs, is a dead art in the US today!

[CFAmick]

When CNN first debuted, did the establish accept it, or claim that it wasn't "real news?"

[NWRICK]

apples and oranges

[blindjester]

Sticks and stones.

I like this game.

[instarx]

The CNN of today is very different from CNN during its start-up years. In the beginning It WAS real news, not the Good Morning America Fluff it has become since. The only question about CNN in the beginning was whether they would be able to gather enough news to fill up 24 hours. At the time the longest network news programs being broadcast were only half an hour long.

[CFAmick]

It just seems like corporate media will denounce any competitor who gets ratings or eyeballs, and pretend it's an issue of legitimacy issue when it's really about $$$$$.

After all, if a news org takes money from the same advertisers as "mainstream media," you can't pretend it's not also mainstream.

[Canuck27]

The sad part is that Chris Matthews is what actually passes for a journalist for a great many people these days. Any body remember Walter Cronkite?

[LongTimeFem]

Funny how Matthews and the rest of that crowd often get their talking points from what's happening on the blogs...an­d yet they trash the idea of them.

[apoliticalchick]

Mathews right on the pulse of things per usual
http://democralypsenow.blogspot.com/

[alanposting]

Thanks a great one.... Matthews wants real journalism ..... Matthews do you have a brain in your head. You are a walking Blog.

[marika]

What is Matthews show other than oral blogging? Is he out chasing the news to spew the truth? What is his gooing over his love of the "smell of leather" and the tingles in his leg but drivel.
I quite listening to his program years ago and the hysteria of the Limbaugh, Hannity and O'Reilly crowd are hardly adressed to thinking people.
Just as a good private librairy is a collection of carefully chosen volumes so the choice of those let into one's home should receive the same attention. Life is short and the choice of friends is vital.

[toypiano]

Hmm. What is his show but a televised blog (and a bad one at that)? Methinks the pot called the kettle burnt.

[JadedAggie]

I'm not a huge fan of Matthews, but he is entirely correct. Although it is also noteworthy that Hardball is not a news show, but an opinion/editorial show.

[derekc06]

which is a good note... if he were to use said blogs he would be getting information for his op-ed... from another op-ed...

so it's fair for him to say that he wants a legitimate source...

[ishok]

Chris Matthews is a fake. I'm sick of this guy 'jumping on" these lesser known journalist when I've seen him let this same stuff go with his "regulars" and pals.
It's almost as if he has them on just so he can establish his "creds" by baiting them in and flipping on them. Sort of reminds me of the fresh faces on a Star Trek episode that you know is gonna get it at some point. He's a fake like Anderson Cooper.
He also talks faster than he can think.

[instarx]

I haven't seen him jumping on journalists very often. But I DID see him jump on Michele Bachman when she said the entire Democratic side of Congress were traitors and should be investigated for un-American activities.

If you need jumping on, you need jumping on - no matter if you are a politician or a commentator.

[RelayerBob]

Good for him. Blogs are *NOT* journalism. They may lift material from journalists in order to support their opinions, other times they play off rumors or just made up stuff. With all due respect to Arianna, blogs are not professional news organizations with paid staff and actual paid correspondents.

[ohiomark]

Tell that to Keith Olbermann. The folks at the DailyKooks literally write his script every night.

[instarx]

Hear, hear. As an example, read the blog post at the top of the page.

[Rhonda Davis]

go chris get 'um

[toocoldout]

I LOVE him. His IQ is 50 points higher than anyone else in Washington. The man thinks & talks faster than the speed of light.

[BottomLine2008]

I like Chris. But he's a shallow loudmouth who changes his tune from day to day.

He needs a long vacation.

[smag]

Matthews is the last person to refer to Journalism. They teach you in Journalism School that among the most important criteria for a good story or presentation is fact checking and impartiality. He has failed so many times in that area when skewering the Clintons in favor of BO to the point of feeling funny things up his leg when he hears BO speak. I don't think that Blogs should be used as a news source unless verified. But I'll bet if a lib referred to a blog concerning Gov Palin he would be elated and join the pile on to the point as usual the guest couldn't get a word in edgewise. He's an entertainer so folks who desire objective analysis of issues need not seek his counsel.

[dcrinaz]

Wow a TV news personality actually acting like a reporter and demanding that other act like reporters. Imagine a return to fact-based reports free of a biased agenda! Wow, you think we might even get back to quality, investigative reporting? Let's hope that the spirit of Edward R. Murrow has been resurrected with the ascendency of Barack Obama to the Presidency!

[truthjusticeandtheusa]

Mathews and his "tingle" sum up his objectivity, hard facts only mon eye.

[derekc06]

who cares if he's objective?