CNN's Howard Kurtz Criticizes CNN's Presidential Debate (VIDEO)

CNN host Howard Kurtz seemed to criticize his network's presidential debate on Sunday's "Reliable Sources."

Kurtz ran a segment about the media attention that Texas Gov. Rick Perry is receiving in the Republican primary coverage. He began by noting that, while it was obvious that the "lead story" of last week's CNN debate involved Perry, a lot of that was because his CNN colleague Wolf Blizter kept leading the discussion back to the current frontrunner.

"Michele Bachmann, Mitt Romney, and the others were ganging up on Rick Perry," Kurtz said. "But there's no question they had some company. If you look at many of Wolf Blitzer's questions, they singled out the Texas, governor, even when the moderator was addressing Perry's Republican rivals."

Kurtz also had some critical words about the format of the debate, saying that he was not thrilled with some of the questions from the Tea Party audience.

"When you talk about building drama, I want to make this clear, I'm all for audience members asking questions," he said. "I don't think journalists have a monopoly on wisdom. But many of these questions from the Tea Party reps were so vague as to be kind of useless.

WATCH:

Comments

[fisher65]

03:13 PM on 09/20/2011

the debate was so stupid, no brains in the bunch!

[WindySailor]

02:49 PM on 09/20/2011

"Kind of useless." That pretty well sums up Wolf Blitzer, too.

[olitenup]

10:42 AM on 09/20/2011

'CNN has sold it's soul to the devil of faux news sensationalism. I have completely stopped watching.

[Mutande]

02:30 AM on 09/20/2011

Having the teaparty co-sponsor a debate with a news organization and ask questions.... well, you might as well have a format where the candidates ask themselves questions. Hardly putting anybody's feet to the fire.

[Abelardo Perez]

01:36 AM on 09/20/2011

someone's reaching out to fox news on getting a new job....

[beemerron]

12:06 AM on 09/20/2011

Good question would have been:
Remembering the market crash of 2008, would you have felt better with your entire retirement saving being controlled by Wall Street?

[john rajah]

09:34 PM on 09/19/2011

CNN is a collateral damage from the Murdoch media's assault on US politics.

In trying to outFox Fox,they have lost their journalistic integrity.

It's a disgrace that it is now the nonAmerican BBC and alJazeera that one can rely on for balanced cover of US politics.

[PickOneTwoThree]

07:33 PM on 09/19/2011

In that debate, CNN was more an entertainment organization than a news organization.

Wolf directed his questions at Rick Perry or at others about Rick Perry because it would make great sound bites.

CNN was great when it started - during Iraq I. I would rush home from work to watch what had happened. They've gone way down since then - I think only Anderson Cooper actually asks questions like a journalist.

With all these 24/7 pseudo news channels we are less informed than before.

[cjohns58]

04:47 PM on 09/19/2011

Asking to most questions of a candidate who has made the most questionable statements and positions is hardly biased.

[Alta Pasha]

04:43 PM on 09/19/2011

The TBags are displeased with the CNN/Teaparty debate because it really didn't go as well as they thought it would... "i.e. cheering to let people die." However, the American electorate were the winners! It scared the hell out of them! Obama 2012!

[goodbarnes]

03:45 PM on 09/19/2011

I used to like, and trust, Wolf; however, I am beginning to suspect that
he is is not the journalist I believed him to be, but rather someone in the
media who has left leaning agendas.

[jjkrjw0]

04:16 PM on 09/19/2011

Ya think?

[dave1marine]

04:19 PM on 09/19/2011

Now THAT was profound.

[sgrimes889]

03:26 PM on 09/19/2011

journalists have NO wisdom. Today they are out for the story and if it doesn't square with their ideological views, they make it up. I have no respect for most "journalists".They are mostly leftist political hacks. they are supposed to be non-biased but that isn't the case anymore.Disgusting.

[jimme]

04:40 PM on 09/19/2011

Leftist ?

If anyone is a political hack, your rightists(sic) on fox takes the cake.

[sgrimes889]

04:03 PM on 09/20/2011

CNN,MSNBC,NBC,CBS,ABC are cheerleaders for this Administration, did no investigation on this Administration during the election. They are hacks. They have no journalistic ethics.

[astoltman]

06:25 PM on 09/19/2011

the media just goes for the story and if it's not what they like, they just squeeze in something that makes the other person look bad i.e. "soundbites" so you don't know WHO to believe. It doesn't matter who it is. Just look at 60 Minutes. One of the biggest leftist shows there is. And that's being open-minded! if you're talking about Fox, none of those 24/7 news channels are non-biased

[alak0926]

06:59 AM on 09/20/2011

Sixty Minutes is a lefty broadcast. Now I've heard it all. I guess Abe Lincoln was another lefty. I feel like I've been sent back to the stone age when I hear these t baggers talk.

[Diana775]

03:10 PM on 09/19/2011

The tea party is kind of vague and useless

[goodbarnes]

03:48 PM on 09/19/2011

The Tea Party, which by the way is made up of folks of different
racial and cultural backgrounds, is against intrusive big government
coming into our lives and instead supports keeping our liberties. That's
vague and useless?

[JeremySG]

03:54 PM on 09/19/2011

But for some odd reason, small government for tea party also equals an obsession with things like capital punishment and making sure gays are the only group not to "keep their liberties" from Government

[Donny Darko]

03:54 PM on 09/19/2011

lmao different racial and cultural background?? get the statistics and its mostly consist of Caucasian not in favor of immigration or minorities.

[bmitche]

03:05 PM on 09/19/2011

DON'T BITE THE HAND THAT FEED YOU !!

[North2011]

02:46 PM on 09/19/2011

Remember CNN, you still have 0% credibility.

[ranwolf1976]

03:39 PM on 09/19/2011

That's still more than Fox

[jjkrjw0]

04:31 PM on 09/19/2011

You wish. Fox beats all the others in viewers because Fox DOES have credibility. They back up everything they report. And they DO present both sides, unlike all the others.