WHO'S THE BIGGER IDIOT, ROBERT FISK OR THE PERSON WHO LISTENS TO HIM

On Line Opinion features a piece very critical of the media's coverage of politics, written by lefty Australian blogger Antony Loewenstein . In the following excerpt Loewenstein is educated by his mate, super-journalist and idol:

Journalists should not be mates with politicians or their press agents. A healthy working relationship is clearly essential but socialising together is inappropriate. During a recent conversation with Robert Fisk in Beirut, he reminded me of the situation in Washington during press conferences with Bush, Rumsfeld and a handful of other American leaders. "The journalists rarely ask tough questions", Fisk told me. "They're called by their first names by the politicians and prefer basking in the glow of thinking some hot-shot politician is taking their question." The situation in Australia is often little better.

Hmm, Fisk and I must not be watching the same press conferences. Take this example:

In one of the most belligerent briefings yet (here's the complete transcript) McClellan and the press corps traded shots in the wake of the news magazine's retraction of a report that a Pentagon investigation had confirmed that interrogators at Guantanamo Bay threw a Koran in the toilet.

McClellan said that Newsweek should make further amends for its mistake "by talking about the way they got this wrong, and pointing out what the policies and practices of the United States military are when it comes to the handling of the Holy Koran."

To which ABC News' Terry Moran replied: "With respect, who made you the editor of Newsweek? Do you think it's appropriate for you, at that podium, speaking with the authority of the President of the United States, to tell an American magazine what they should print?"

"Are you asking them to write a story about how great the American military is; is that what you're saying here?" asked New York Times reporter Elisabeth Bumiller.

Very chummy stuff indeed, with even alleged Bush "lap-dog" Bumiller on the offensive.

Fisk and Loewenstein, world class idiots.