Appearing on Fox News’ Media Buzz, David Zurawik, television and media critic for the Baltimore Sun, hammered President Obama over his relationship with the press and accused him of having “one of the most hostile press administrations in the world.”
Zurawik reacted to President Obama’s final appearance on the Daily Show which he described as “22 minutes and 13 seconds of let Obama spin his spin.”
The Baltimore Sun reporter acknowledged that Stewart did ask Obama one strong question before he complained that the Daily Show host allowed him to essentially air a campaign ad during the show:
[H]e said, you know what I really like young people to do, and he looked in the camera, I like them to really think about this Iran deal. It's such a good thing and I would like you to contact your elected official in Congress. It's in there. It’s in the transcript. That’s an ad for God’s sake.
Zurawik continued his criticism of Obama by pointing out how he “loves to talk about media. Most of his analysis is wrong or it's 10 years old or it's a politician who hates the media.”
His harsh words were not limited to Obama, as Zurawik complained that “Stewart should have asked him, this is the administration that has changed the rules of White House imagery. You can't take pictures. You only get the controlled pictures. What about Rosen and Risen, the reporters, one here one at the New York Times that he went after.”
Ultimately though, Zurawik explained that Obama’s Daily Show appearance was merely a symptom of the horrible relationship his administration has with the press:
This is one of the most hostile press administrations in the world and for him to let him get away with saying, the press is interested in shiny objects and gets distracted like we're a bunch of fools. No, we're not the fools. We have an administration that is as hostile as Richard Nixon's and we've tried to push back and it's guys like Jon Stewart who let him get away with it.
See relevant transcript below.
Fox News’ MediaBuzz
July 26, 2015
HOWARD KURTZ: Joining us now for the “Z Block” to look at Jon Stewart's 16-year career is David Zurawik, television and media critic for the Baltimore Sun. So, Jon Stewart’s never exactly hard on Barack Obama but was that a good interview?
DAVID ZURAWIK: No, oh my God Howie, it was 22 minutes and 13 seconds of let Obama spin his spin. Jon Stewart really is an important cultural force, did something great. He engaged young people in the political process. But what comes with it is an ideology. He has an ideology that is left wing ideology and it's there. So he gave him a clear run. You know, he asked a good question actually about should we have three years of college and then one year of service of some kind, which is a big policy question.
Obama said that would be interesting meaning I'm never going to take on anything like that and then he said you know what I really like young people to do and he looked in the camera, I like them to really think about this Iran deal. It's such a good thing and I would like you to contact your elected official in Congress. It's in there. It’s in the transcript. That’s an ad for God’s sake.
KURTZ: It’s a paid political commercial. I like that he asked the president are you too guarded, are you too full of spin. We showed at the top of the show not all of the media love Obama. He said the media love you,
you love them. Obama clearly resents some of his coverage and Jon Stewart talked to journalists here in the beltway, they’re constantly complaining, according to big mainstream establishment types, about not having enough access, not doing enough interviews with regular reporters as opposed to YouTube stars and BuzzFeed.
ZURAWIK: Howie, this was astonishing to me when he asked about the media. Obama, by the way, loves to talk about media. Most of his analysis is wrong or it's 10 years old or it's a politician who hates the media. But Stewart should have asked him, this is the administration that has changed the rules of White House imagery. You can't take pictures. You only get the controlled pictures. What about Rosen and Risen, the reporters, one here one at the New York Times that he went after.
This is one of the most hostile press administrations in the world and for him to let him get away with saying, the press is interested in shiny objects and gets distracted like we're a bunch of fools. No, we're not the fools. We have an administration that is as hostile as Richard Nixon's and we've tried to push back and it's guys like Jon Stewart who let him get away with it. I was so angry when I saw Stewart not even -- he could have gently and respectfully followed up.
KURTZ: Is this you being angry? It seems like your normal voice to me.
ZURAWIK: Because from February after Obama took office, I have been screaming this guy hates the press and he's done nothing but try to take power away from the press.
