[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 10]
[House]
[Pages 13710-13711]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       CNN HOST SAYS MEDIA BIASED

  (Mr. SMITH of Texas asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute.)
  Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Speaker, Howard Kurtz, host of CNN's program 
``Reliable Sources,'' has strongly criticized the media's coverage of 
Senator Barack Obama's breaking his promise that he would accept public 
campaign funds.
  Last Sunday, Kurtz argued: ``All of these liberal commentators who 
have always supported campaign finance reform, getting big money out of 
politics, many of them are defending Obama. And I have to think the 
press is cutting him a break here.''
  Kurtz concluded the segment by saying, ``If George W. Bush had done 
this, blown off public financing as he considered doing during the 2004 
campaign,

[[Page 13711]]

there would be howls in the media about one candidate trying to buy an 
election.''
  A recent poll found that, by more than a 3-to-1 margin, voters 
believe the media favors Senator Barack Obama over Senator John McCain. 
The media should report the facts, not slant the news.

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