Let the dinosaur stay

I blogged earlier in the year about my reluctance to let John King fill my weekly date with CNN's early Sunday morning talk shows, when he replaced Wolf Blitzer as host. This morning, there was an exchange between King and Howard Kurtz, host of "Reliable Sources," a segment of King's "State of the Union" show that analyzes media coverage each week, that won me over.

Kurtz commented on Fox's Sean Hannity's rant about a segment that Kurtz had done the prior week on his show. Hannity's remarks were taking Kurtz to task, basically, about doing his job.

The exchange between King and Kurtz that followed allowed King to remark about the difference between a reporter and a commentator, he being the former, and Hannity being the latter.

King's comments were pointed, and self-effacing, and well, the guy was just elegant. He said something like "Call me a dinosaur, but I'm still a reporter," drawing reference to the dying breed of journalists carrying prime TV slots who are still practicing unbiased, balanced reporting "the old fashioned way."

It was great! He put Hannity in his place, without being rude--he gave Hannity more grace than he deserves, IMHO, calling him a commentator.

Kurtz's part in the exchange was also good-tempered. The two were professional and commanding. I loved it...I say, "let the dinosaur stay"!

I'll try to find a clip of the exchange, and share it here.