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I do think you may have been too tough on Aravosis. It reads to me like the reference is to himself, and not Kurtz. He's not saying "You are fair" to Kurtz, he's saying "I think are you fair" as a comparison to asking "are you left" or "are you right".
Two people have now said this, so I'm going to be receptive to the notion that there is something to it, but as of now, I completely disagree. He's talking to Kurtz - even uses his name - and says:
ARAVOSIS: Why give Brit Hume the opportunity, is the point, Howie. You're -- some people -- some people say are you left, some people say are you right. I think are you fair. I do not think Brit Hume is fair. There's a difference.
He's contrasting Brit Hume (not fair) and Howard Kurtz (fair).
I think there's a problem with the transcript that creates ambiguity (where he says "I think are you fair," which was clearly him saying that he thinks Kurtz is fair). I didn't see the show - only read the transcript - but at least 5 people who did see it e-mailed me to alert me to what was said, and they perceived no ambiguity.
Aravosis can clear it up. He can say he didn't mean and doesn't think that Kurtz is fair, and if he does that, I'll be happy to retract it. I doubt that will happen, but if it does, I'll be the first to post the correction.
My point wasn't to single out Aravosis. But it does illustrate a problem to which everyone is vulnerable, and I mentioned it only because it is consistent with the point of the post. The way that people enter this system is by praising it and not opposing it too severely. And the more one enters it, the greater the temptation to praise and defend it.
That's not unique to any one person. It's just human nature, but it's definitely a big part of what is going on with modern journalism.
