Howard Kurtz

Howard Kurtz's Speech Descriptions

For more than two decades, no one has analyzed or challenged media bias like Howard Kurtz. With over 30 years in the field, the renowned journalist is unmatched when it comes to openly and objectively discussing the inner workings of the industry that influences our perception, understanding, and opinion of the events unfolding around us. Kurtz delivers informative and interactive programs touching upon issues such as the rise of social media in the news world, the evolution and future of journalism, and how the press’s portrayal of different figures and issues shapes real world outcomes.

Political Showdown
Howard Kurtz examines the polarized coverage of the 2016 campaign, from Hillary Clinton’s animus toward the press to Republican candidates accusing journalists of gotcha questions to the circus atmosphere surrounding Donald Drumpf. He looks at how bias, superficiality and sensationalism with an insider’s eye based on his anchor role at Fox News (sparring with the likes of Bill O'Reilly and Megyn Kelly) and past experience at CNN, The Washington Post and The Daily Beast. From the growing power of Twitter to the shrinking sound bites of the evening news, Kurtz illuminates how the Obama administration’s war on the press has emboldened today’s candidates to try to neutralize a news business suffering from its own credibility crisis.


The New Age of Blogging and Twittering


While others decry a Wild West environment where anyone can say anything, Kurtz applauds the technology that empowers ordinary citizens and breaks the stranglehold of the establishment media. Journalists dismiss this movement at their peril, while consumers must learn to navigate this universe of insta-news and perpetual punditry by sorting facts from rumor and slander.


The Collapse of the Mainstream Media


The old journalistic establishment is dying from a series of self-inflicted wounds: arrogance, inaccuracy, blandness and the failure to adapt to a digital revolution that is slowly strangling newspapers. A reporter who predicted that newspapers faced irrelevance in the early 1990s, Kurtz offers a cold-eyed analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the YouTube age and whether print publications can survive.


Why Liberals Now Hate the Press


After decades of conservative distrust, the media are now feeling the heat from disgusted liberals who see journalists as part of a corporate elite that abetted the Iraq war, coddled the Bush administration and are undermining the Obama White House. Kurtz explores the vitriolic atmosphere, the shortcomings of the press, and how some partisans on both sides are more interested in demonization than fairness.


My Journey on Facebook and Twitter


In this presentation, Kurtz examines how he became active on Facebook and Twitter and wound up with over 300,000 Twitter followers. He discusses how these social networks, especially Twitter, have become an important source of breaking news; given more influence to ordinary folks to distribute and comment on news; how network anchors and other media hotshots are trying to tap into the culture and share more of themselves; and how it′s also become a land mine that has ended some journalistic careers.