Debating The Iran Question On CNN's Reliable Sources

This morning, Dana Milbank, Amanda Carpenter, and I appeared on CNN's Reliable Sources, hosted by Howard Kurtz.

It was a spirited affair and folks can draw their own conclusions. Here's the video:

The only thing that surprised me was when Dana turned to me after our initial sparring and called me a "dick" in a whispered tone (the specific phrase was, I believe, "You're such a dick"). Howie Kurtz wrote on Twitter that he didn't hear it, which is understandable -- he was doing the lead-in for the next part of the segment on the ABC White House special. But it happened (I urge Howie to watch the video of the panel during the ABC intro) and it was frankly pretty odd.

For those interested, here are the citations for some of the points I made:

-- Greg Sargent's piece on Milbank's write-up of the "Mission Accomplished" moment.

-- Lynn Sweet's reporting on Milbank's questions to Obama about bathing suit pictures:

"The problem is that that's not what you guys have been reporting on. You've been reporting on how I look in a swimsuit," said Obama.

A small gut check here. An often-used Obama rhetorical technique is to set up a straw-man argument, only to knock it down.

Accuse me, as Team Obama might, of being nitpicking and literal, but it is hard to see where the swimsuit story ate up the time or space of congressional reporters -- or other journalists outside of Washington who may be doing serious reporting on Obama's policy proposals and legislative record.

The circle of reporters who actually did the work of following up on the People Magazine picture of Obama in his trunks includes only myself and Dana Milbank of The Washington Post.

We cornered Obama outside the Senate radio-TV gallery after a press conference. Milbank asked a few leading questions and we both wrote columns based on his reply that ran the next day. Between the Chicago Sun-Times running the Obama photo on the front page hyping my column and the reach of The Washington Post, the attention inspired other outlets to do derivative feature stories. Of course, it also made great gab for the cable news shows.

Follow Nico Pitney on Twitter: www.twitter.com/nicopitney

Comments

[geopopo8657]

Great Job Nico! I agree why wouldnt President Obama ask him since he was the only one reporting as things were happening in Iran. Dana Milbank is being very jealous as was David Gregory from MSNBC on Meet The Press. I sure miss Tim Russert alot.

[skeptaholic]

The man was wonderful from what people who knew him have told me. With all due respect and solely regarding interviews, I don't miss him so much. Dan Rather accosting Nixon is what I miss. Oh, wait, I was six months old.

[observer230]

Milbank closed the comments to all his "articles" because people were being so mean. What a tool

[VotingPresent]

It was a debate about who loves Obama more.

[exhale09]

It's all about the Media.
Used to be "journalism" was about reporting the "news"... "truth"... and keeping the public informed on important issues.
Now it all about the Media "personalities" and their personality food fights for ratings and celebrity.

Nico's coverage of the Iranians, was nothing less then outstanding. DAYS of minute by minute dedication to keeping us in touch with their plight.
Dana pounces on one question out of DAYS of remarkable journalism and turns it into a Republican sour grapes talking point.

Leave it to a Conservative shill reporter like Milbank to intentionally poop in the pool to pollute the water.

[metalpipe]

If Dana is the best the right wing media has to offer, we have nothing to worry about. The scales of public opinion and preference are tipping towards a desire for real news.

[BarackDaVote]

Ha ha ha ha.....Dan­a tried to come with a folder full of facts to proove his case and still got "OWNED" by Nico.....D­ana and alot of other people are just jealous of Nico.

[VOTER]

And we, all, know that when Bush was POTUS the last question he ever
wanted to be asked was from an average citizen of Iraq, even though he
was thousands of miles away from flying loafers.

President Obama was, in my opinion, aware of the communication taking
place through Twitter and wanted to hear some of it first hand.

Dana's loss of memory over his glorious "Mission Accomplished" writing is
proof, he is another MSM up for early retirement.

[elakelaiset]

"Howie Kurtz wrote on Twitter that he didn't hear it"

That's not what he wrote.

[myoungholt]

And?

[elakelaiset]

'Dana Milbank did not call Nico Pitney a dick or anything else after their Reliable debate, @anamariecox. It was civil. I was there."

Not exactly "Howie Kurtz wrote on Twitter that he didn't hear it, which is understand­able..."

We WERE talking, in a way, about journal ism, no? Just sayin' ...

[DragonFly]

I think the real outrage from the right-wing reporters - such as Milbank - is more about being shown up for the fluff journalists and stenographers they really are.

Good work Nico.

[tallisse]

Yay Nico! Excellent job!!!

[WritusMaximus]

The HEAR ME, I AM IMPORTANT syndrome. He said, She said? No evidence/c­orroborati­on, so why bother?

[elmoor]

Seems to me thaat Nico has been the only reporter out there that was giving the real news in real time about what was going on in Iran from the people's perspective. Of course the President would want to answer a question from the only real reporter on this issue. Duh!

Dana is jealous little man.

[ScapeGoat]

I can see why Dana was thrown off of Obermann.

The way he twisted the email shows his partisan bend.
Dana; O-b-a-m-a did NOT tell Nico to blog for questions from Iran. Nico, wanting to be prepared, so, he decided on his own to solicit questions from Iran. Big difference between the two.

[Mister C]

This faux outrage among conservatives ON cnn about the Obama press conference is just amazing.

The Bush administration allowed James Guckert, aka Jeff Gannon, a "reporter" for a non-existent news service and former(?) gay prostitute, free run of the White House despite not subjecting him to the same routine background checks as other reporters.

The Bush administration also paid journalists to write stories favorable to the administration, which they did, without acknowledging that they'd been paid to do so.

Bush administration members, most notably Dick Cheney and his staff, fed lies to reporters like Judith Miller to stoke the outcry for a war with Iraq, and those reporters printed the lies without checking their veracity or offering a counterpoint in the name of "balance." (Balance is only for conservatives to comment on liberal ideas and initiatives, apparently­.)

The mainstream media did NOTHING in the wake of these Bush administration manipulations of the media. Now I'm supposed to believe that Milbank and Kurtz are really outraged over the Obama administration's "collusion" with Pitney?

The sum and substance of this supposed manipulation was for someone on Obama's staff to tell Pitney to be prepared to ask a question if he got called the following day, because Obama wanted to highlight response in Iran to that country's recent election, and the Obama staff knew Pitney was in contact with Iranians involved in protesting the election results. And yet the so-called liberal media is "outraged" at "collusion­."?

IDIOTS!

[MjaFla]

Good job Nico! It's reporting like Milbank's that is sinking the WP! No matter, he and his cronies will be in the unemployment line soon enough.

[nellie]

I love the new media. People like Dana MIlbank are the reason we have to work so hard to find out about the important issues that affect our lives.

[exhale09]

What's Dana's point anyway?

The White House gave "the" journalist who had been dedicating every minute of his life for days, to covering the Iranian's story IN DEPTH...a chance to ask him a question straight FROM an Iranian!
Are "we" supposed to be upset about this Dana?

I mean it's not like the White House wrote "the question" and gave it to Nico to ask, and it was hardly a "softball" question.

Dana thinks his "gotcha" blather is more important then the DAYS of outstanding coverage of Iran thanks to Nico.

Does Dana know how utterly obvious his envy is? Seriously. He sounds like a sixth grader.

Maybe next time we have an earthshaking historical event happening in the Middle East or anywhere else, "Dana" will actually engage in some REAL journalism too!

[nellie]

Well said. Bravo.

[gvc]

I don't understand the faux outrage. The President calls on reporters in the briefing. He also engages in a bit of reparte. Whether that's a good system or bad, it's that way it is.

I can't say I much liked Nico's question. It was of the accusatory "Perry Mason" kind, rather than one that had a serious answer. Of course he ducked it.

[paganmist]

It wasn't Nico's question, though.

It came from an Iranian. There was undeniably some accusation in it. There was pain behind it. On the ground, in Iran, people are dying, their government's gone corrupt, and they keep imagining that surely someone like the President of the United States will come over and give them freedom and democracy.

As an intelligent American, I realize all of the many reasons why that would be a bad thing. But as a human, I understand the desperate feeling of, "Why won't someone DO something?"

So don't blame Nico for the tone of the question - Obama wanted a question for an Iranian, and he got it.

And have a heart. Don't blame the Iranian who sent in that question too much, either. Sometimes, when you are in pain and afraid, you get desperate and even lash out a bit at people who may not deserve it.

[gvc]

Nico selected the question.