Kurtz Explains His Critique of 'Wash. Post' Iraq Coverage

By: Joe Strupp Howard Kurtz, The Washington Post media writer who penned the lengthy Page One critique Thursday of the paper's pre-war coverage of weapons threats in Iraq, said the damning story was his idea and included no outside interference or directives from top editors.

"I assigned it to myself," Kurtz, who has held the media beat at the Post for 14 years, told E&P just hours after the paper hit doorsteps. "I felt there were lingering questions about the Post's coverage that had been touched on in other accounts, but no one had interviewed all of the editors and reporters involved to try to make an assessment of what the paper did, both right and wrong."

Kurtz said he began reporting for the piece about a month ago, with some interruptions for presidential campaign coverage -- including the Democratic National Convention that he attended in Boston. About 20 people were interviewed for the story, including Executive Editor Leonard Downie Jr., who talked to Kurtz for more than an hour.

"I got absolutely no interference from anyone in management and the piece was not even reviewed in advance by the top editors, including Len Downie," Kurtz said. "I thought Downie was rather candid in acknowledging that the paper had made some mistakes."

Downie, who is out of town, could not be reached for comment today. Post Ombudsman Michael Getler, who was not interviewed by Kurtz, also is on vacation.

The 3,000-word piece finds that the Post often underplayed stories raising doubts about the Bush administration's pre-war contention that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.

"Given that other news organizations were doing self-examinations, the time seemed ripe for the Post to do the same thing," Kurtz added. "I happen to think the Post did a better job than many major news organizations on this story." (The New York Times in May ran a much shorter editors' note about shortcomings in its own coverage.)

Kurtz said he did not seek input from Getler because he wanted the story to involve those who took part in the coverage. "To the Post's credit, Michael Getler has written a number of pieces taking the Post to task," Kurtz said. "What I felt was missing was the kind of in-depth, comprehensive, talk-to-everyone-involved piece that would explain the nuances of how the Post did some good reporting, but also fell short in very significant ways."

The media writer, whose work most often appears in the Style section, said he was not surprised it ran on Page One this morning. But, he said he never lobbied for placement. "I did the best job I could and handed in the piece and let others decide," Kurtz explained. "I wasn't surprised where it ran given that front-page display was a major theme in the story."

Kurtz said he had gotten mostly favorable reaction in e-mails and phone calls so far Thursday. "Whether people agree or disagree with my findings, it is a healthy self-examination for the Post to lay out these questions," he said.