"reliable sources." it has been nothing short of a barrage with fresh artillery nearly every day. the "washington post" reports that mitt romney's firm, bain capital, funded companies that shipped american jobs overseas. "vanity fair" reports on romney's private bank accounts in other countries. "the boston globe" reports that romney remained the ce owe at bain three years after he said he left. this remarkable week began with blasting on the airwaves and jumped to more media reports and coverage about romney's wealth and business background. >> the new detail on bain, the swiss bank account issue, even his own surrogates calling for his tax returns. >> he was a terrific businessman. he's done well. and he has paid every bit of his taxes. this is a man who's living by the law. that is it. >> mitt romney made a lot of money being in charge of a company and claiming that he had no responsibility at the same time. >> first it's the cayman

islands. now they're saying he might be indicted because he worked at bain longer than he said. this is how absurd things have gotten. >> you can say a lot of stuff about mitt romney, unfeeling, out of touch, stiff. but a felon he's not. >> romney fought back on friday with a media counteroffensive. interviews are nbc, abc, cbs, cnn, and fox. joining us to examine the media's performance here in washington, erin mcpipe, political editor for real clear politics. jennifer rubin who writes for "washington post" and a cnbc contributor, and clarence page, columnist for "the chicago tribun tribune". you're obviously sympathetic to the romney case. what about reports about his finances and business record is unfair? >> i think there is a noxious cycle that the media is not being very honest about. much of the information from these stories coming from the obama campaign. sometimes incorrectly, sometimes

sp spottily which leads to stories. the obama campaign uses it for fodder, for ads on the air, talking points. the media then reports there. there's this symbiotic relationship developing that is not fair, that is not transparent, and that is not honest. >> on that point, clarence page, stephanie cutter, the campaign manager said on "face the nation" when asked about all of these allegations, it's not the obama campaign making allegations, it's independent reports in the press. what about jennifer described as a symbiotic relationship? >> well, if there really was a relationship such that the media are being stenographers, taken dictation from the bike campaign, she would be right. these are reputable media we're talking about here, the "boston globe," "time," "washington post," et cetera. these are publication that's check things out before they go into print. and so we can say that these are independent media reports to that degree. as far as tips go, howard, you're going to take a tip from anybody. i'm going to take a tip from anybody and follow that up and make a story out of it. >> i --

>> part of the problem is that romney campaign, when reporters, for example the "washington post" reporter came back to it, the romney people were exceptionally unhelpful in trying to explain their position, trying to give other side. to the point that they're being beaten by the media cycle, parts of that is their own doing. i think they'll take a slightly different tax. it's been unhelpful for them. >> i want to say one thing. many of these tips as we're talking about are coming not really from the obama campaign but instead from the democratic super pacs that are supporting obama, priorities usa and the bridge. we talk about super pacs with ad dollars, but the democratic super pacs have less money to spend. they're digging up research on mitt romney. that's where a lot of this is coming from. another effect of this -- >> let me say, these are reputable news organizations, clarence page. these are legitimate stories. the subject is fair game. romney's running on his record as a businessman. but what i think a lot of people in our business miss is the

sheer tonnage hear, the 24/7 nature of it, makes the media look like it is only pounding one candidate and, perhaps, is carrying the obama message. conservatives look at this barrage and say, when has barack obama gotten this media screening? >> they certainly are. here's the thing -- so many conservatives now are calling on mitt romney to release more of his years of tax returns. so it's not that republicans are really coming to mitt romney's defense in any great nature now either. >> the stories on bain capital, "the boston globe" had had a couple of stories in recent days pointing out what the company filed with the sec was that he was the ceo. he was the stole stockholder. he says yes but that he had left, had no active role. some of this previously been reported as "the globe" has acknowledged by talking points memo. it caused a media explosion. your point is that the romney camp in terms of its dealings with the press has not dealt well with the media explosion. >> that's correct. and i think what we have here also is the phenomenon that

political reporters are dealing with very complicated economic transactions. so if they get a surface or -- an editor shortens a phrase or condenses something, the accuracy of the nuance is lost. the obama campaign will then reach into that story, pull it out, out of context, and run with it. that's happened in the outsourcing story, that happened in the resignation from bain capital. so some of the fault here has to do with a lack of nuance in the reporting and the headlines that go to. it the headline in that "washington post" report was much more misleading than the substance of the report on outsourcing because, in fact, he had not contributed romney specifically in terms of outsourcing be jobs. i think you have a noxious connection of factors that makes for this fiermstorm. >> there are disputes over details of some of the stories. by and large, you know, romney was listed as ceo for three years after he said he left. he does have offshore accounts. how much voters care about this is another story. but it seems to me, clarence,

that the -- this has become the dominant story of the campaign in terms of media coverage. >> right now, yeah. i -- i laughed when you said when has obama had this kind of scrutiny. four years ago, remember a fellow named reverend wright out of chicago? back then i was saying the same thing. you know, he's been reported out of context. yeah, the guy is eccentric, blah, blah, blah. >> the only time in the campaign that i think you have a point. what about now? >> the only time? >> is there any danger that all of this is seen by people out there as overkill by the media? as pounding one candidate and not the other? is that a risk? >> people aren't that engaged with it. really, howard, this is a slow summer story that takes on legs of its own. it is significant. i mean, romney has based his campaign, based his qualifications for office on his experience with bain capital. and it -- it's fair game for the rest of us to look at that. if we didn't, people would be complaining like it like conservatives were complaining

that people weren't looking at barack obama enough. >> president obama has taken a beating throughout the entirety of his first term by the media, almost four years. >> of course, this is personal in nature. face it, this is what the bush campaign tried to do to john kerry to disqualify a presidential candidate. taking his greatest strength and trying to turn it into a weakness. i'm fascinated by what you said, that research is being dug up by democratic super pacs, organizations supporting obama. is there anything about that that trouble you? obviously reporter check this stuff, but it does seem to folks that there's a cozy relationship here. >> the more they dig up and the more they can prove to donors, the more money that the super pacs make. yes, it does help the super pacs stay alive when they give stories successfully. >> i get like 20 emails a day from the dnc saying, look at this "boston globe" story, this "washington post" story. et cetera. let's turn now because what's faus nigfascinating to me is th

mitt romney has not been terriblyccessible to media organizations outside of fox news, with some exceptions. for him on a friday afternoon to do the five-network blitz as he did was very significant. let's look at some of the questions that were asked and some of romney's responses. >> no responsibility for what happened to that country even though the sec forms list you as chairman and the chief executive officer and president of the company? >> how do you explain that your name is on these feelings? >> the obama campaign is saying that you completed a felony by lying to the sec or that you're lying to the american people. >> i think this kind of statement from the obama team is really shocking. it's ridiculous. and it's beneath the dignity of the presidency. >> your reaction to those interviews? >> well, i think they were fair. these were the questions of the week. i think romney answered them. and i think part of the issue that's going on here is that although barack obama received scrutiny, continues to receive scrutiny, the level of

incredulousness by the media when it comes to mitt romney is entirely different than the president. i think they take -- >> the tone? >> the tone, and i think they take what the obama campaign gives them at face value. and they often repeat it. whereas -- >> it's unfair because that suggests that there's no independent checking by reporters who are experienced at doing this sort of thing. >> or not able to again because the romney people won't check it or won't give them necessary information. i think the level of skepticism about everything romney says and does, even in the absence of any information -- there is no one out there, you know, we've talked to bain people, you've sign seen romney's work, people at the olympics that say he didn't have input or interaction with bain at that date. that was a misleading story by the "boston globe." he was listed on the documents, but no one said he had any operational control or input. no one has. >> but "the globe" came back with a second story in which there were press releases and

comments by romney or bain indicating that he still was aware of some of the things that were going on. and he was being paid -- he was -- why was he paid $100,000 a year? my point, you keep talking about how the romney campaign has handled it or mishandled it. by waiting so long to respond in person by doing the five-network interviews wasn't the romney campaign basically allowing the obama folks to set the media narrative here? >> that's what's dangerous here. this reminds me of john kerry and the swift boat story. which he waited three weeks to respond. the fact that the normally rather reclusive romney is doing a blitz on all the channels tells me that inside the campaign they're saying, hey, we better respond to this. this is not going away. >> let me follow up on something that clarence said. i had the fortune to take a short vacation on a romney -- a romney-style vacation, vacation with the family. out there in the united states, i don't think people are following this at all. and that's why the polls remain

completely deadlocked. people are out doing their own thing. they see the general pattern, the general back and forth, and i think it goes over their heads. i don't think they care. i don't think they focus on it. >> this is complicated and may be a media obsession now. of course, if this remains a major theme of the campaign, it will eventually penetrate. >> sure. but the bottom line is this -- the stubbornly high unemployment rate is no longer news. the lack of specifics that we're getting from president obama on what he would do in a second term and also from mitt romney on his economic vision is no longer news. everything we learn about mitt romney is news. >> i'm sure you would agree, though, that the stubbornly high unemployment rate is -- >> the key issue in the campaign, of course. >> news to the 14 million people who are unemployed even though it's not a fresh story for the media except when job reports come out. let me get in on this about the tone of the coverage. is it unfair to question why romney has released only one year of tax returns? he's promising a second now. is it unfair to talk about his cayman island accounts? is there an undercurrent in

reports about this is kind of a rich guy, he must be hiding something, or not? >> it's not unfair because when you run for president, everything is fair game. >> but the tone -- >> that's right. i think -- we're talking now about a country where most of the people made up their minds already who they're going to vote for. narrower and narrower sliver -- >> 106 people -- >> yeah. we're talking about people in swing states who are still undecided. a narrow group. but they're also low information voters, as david axelrod calls them. meaning that anything they hear now about the candidates is going to have an impact. so -- >> i'd like to get you on the record on jennifer rubin's suggestion that the tone of these media questions, fair questions, fair subject, whether the tone is unfair or incredulous or somehow unfair to romney. >> i think -- the tone to me has been pretty straightforward. the fact is that people have legitimate questions about romney's financial background. i -- i'm willing to give him the

benefit of the doubt. i think his answers were good answers. if you haven't got more evidence than you do now of wrongdoing, the talk of criminal wrongdoing is really over the top. >> all right. i'll going to let you button up that segment. we need a to see take a break. coming up, why all the media talk about condoleezza rice for vp? creamy peanut butter, and a rich dark chocolate flavor. plus, 10 grams of protein. so it's energy straight from nature to you. nature valley protein bars. constipated? phillips' caplets use magnesium, an ingredient that works more naturally with your colon than stimulant laxatives, for effective relief of constipation without cramps. thanks. good morning, students. today we're gonna continue... thanks. last season was the gulf's best tourism season in years. in florida we had more suntans... in alabama we had more beautiful blooms... in mississippi we had more good times... in louisiana we had more fun on the water.

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all it took was a big headline on "the drudge report." "romney narrows v.p. choices, kondy front-runner." the media were off to the races. >> now to reports surfacing overnight about the surprising name at the top of mitt romney's vice presidential list. former secretary of state condoleezza rice. >> buzz building around mitt romney's v.p. choice. condoleezza rice is reportedly at the top of the list. >> we're seeing reports that there's now a short list of possibilities, and the biggest name on that so-called short list is the former secretary of

state, condoleezza rice. >> erin mcpike, why did so many media outlets cover this blip on "drudge" when most journalists think there's no chance of this happening? >> it's widely accepted that that leak came directly from the top of the romney campaign because romney's campaign manager, matt rhodes, is close to matt drudge -- >> i think that's an overstatement. when you say wade lwidely accepe don't know where the leak came from. >> that's true, but we take it that they were deflecting from the issues we were talking it, these reports on bain. yes, deflection is the bottom line. >> i actually think that's not the case. the romney people, with respect to most of the v.p. candidates, simply say nice things and don't comment upon their v.p. prospects. with condi rice, many disclaim interest. i don't think they have interest at putting her atop the stage. i think this is matt drudge doing what matt drudge does

brilliantly, create a story out of nothing. >> you say nothing, but that suggests that he made it up. i'm sure he spoke to somebody -- >> i'm sure there are donors who went to that event and were impressed by her speech and came whispering into romney's here saying i'm sure -- into drudge's ear saying i'm sure she's atop the list. >> to briefly summarize, she has said repeatedly that she doesn't like electoral politics and has no interest in being v.p. she is pro-choice, and she, of course, you know, was such -- close to george w. bush, she brings up the iraq war and weapons of mass destruction and all of that. so some of the journalists purport it to be fair by saying drudge reported it but there's not much time of it happening. they still gave it airtime. why is that? >> man, i was with my good conservative buddy, pat buchanan, when the news broke on this. and he was just outraged at the notion. that's how many conservatives view a possible -- possibility of condi rice as a candidate. many on the left are outraged over her connections to the iraq war, et cetera, et cetera. and she herself has expressed no interest. i take her at her word.

but kbryeah, for one thing, dru has credibility with reporters because they all have -- many as their home page. i've seen this. because of exposure to it. when he has a big headline, folks say, well, drudge is well connected with the romney campaign and others, must be something to this. you know, there's no other evidence anywhere, howard. >> sometimes his scoops are right. this one, i think we're going to look back and say, eh -- >> that's right. she's never been a candidate, for one thing. it would be very juicy because she would be, again, new to the campaign send of political arena. >> we've known that matt drudge drives a lot of traffic on line. we know he can get the entire media establishment on a friday in july to chase a story that he puts up on his home page. clarence page, jennifer rubin, erin mcpike, thank you very much for joining us. next, "newsweek's" cover claims the internet is driving us nuts. in some cases, serious nuts s. that crazy talk? every communications provider is different that crazy talk? . that crazy talk?

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the cover of this week's news week is not exactly subtle. is the internet driving us eye crazy? as a frequent user of this internet and as far as i know perfectly sane, i found this a little farfetched. here's the author, tony d e dokoupil. >> people are saying the internet is making us more upset, depression, prone to attention deficit disorders, ocd behavior, outright psychotic. >> has my magazine pointed out real dangers for the millions who hang out on line, or is this a case of media hyper ventilation? joining us in las vegas, sarah lacey, founder and editor of chief of pandodaily.com. in new york, columbia

university's chief digital officer who blogs about digital and social media for c-net news. sarah lacey, do you believe that e-mailing and texting can lead to mental illness, is it driving you crazy? >> it is not driving me crazy. although, you know, one sign of insanity is you don't recognize you're insane. i think this whole group of sclors thing, i mean, you know, we could find six surveys saying wine is good for you and pad for you. and chocolate is good for you and bad for you. i mean, this is the same sort of fear mongering hysteria that, you know, wanted people to believe that video games made kids go shoot up their schools. and the idea that a totally balanced kid plays a video game and then loses his mind and takes out classmates makes about as much sense as saying spending time on social media will suddenly make you have an, emotional breakdown, strip off your clothe, and run naked through the streets. >> i'm glad you're not restraining yourself. the article starts off with the case of jason russell, the guy who made the kony 2012 video

about the african warlord that went viral and went running naked through the streets. i would say people like that are in the minority. >> i think so, otherwise we would have interesting streets if that was happening. i found my own expert. i talked to june ed ted to joh neuroscientist at drexel university. he said what sarah said, the web can be addictive, social media can be addictive. but it's the underlying disposition that causes people who are predisposed to having problems or being addicted in ways that will cause people to react in ways that the magazine is describing. >> right. sarah, the evidence suggests, you know, the argument by some of these scholars is that there's an internet addiction, a facebook addiction. but also that teenagers are sending 3,800 techs a month. that sounds a bit excessive. so is any of that -- if it doesn't cause mental illness, is it at least potentially unhealthy? >> i mean, it's potentially unhealthy. i think the internet is such an

intense media. you're both able to connect with people and get information at a rapid rate. more than we've ever seen before. and there's good and bad with that. the same way there's good and bad with humanity. but you know, i think it's something we have to adjust to. this world is here to stay. and i'm pretty sure back when the telephone came out people were saying the same thing. you know, i think there's a lot ways that the internet's been a throwback to the way things were before. i think emails and writing people letters is, you know, actually sort of a nice thing again. so, you know, i think that in every time that -- that some sort of technology brings us all closer and more immediate and takes away parts of like space and time that separate us, there's a lot of intensity that comes with that. and certainly that intensity can be good and bad at the same time. but there's a lot of examples of it helping humanity, too. >> i'm glad you brought it up. i want to come back to it in a second. sree, how much time do you as chief digital officer spend on twitter and facebook, and how much do you worry about the amount of your day that gets absorbed by such things? >> i do worry about it.

and i have two 9-year-olds. so we're careful about how much screen time they get on line and how much time they're watching thing. you have to know that people have been worried about this for decades. and when i first talked about e-mail and the web in general, people ask me, how much time do you spend on e-mail. and they're worried -- they were worried about me then. you can imagine that when facebook and twitter came around, even there's more things to worry about. but, you know, i don't want to discount that it may be scientific evidence of long-term evolutionary trouble that's going on with our brains and our synapses and things. that's still to be found and confirmed. in the meantime, my bigger worry is kids and others who are texts and driving, for example -- texting and driving, for example. because of the addiction they always want to know what's going on. >> aside from texting and driving, how much guidance do you give your kids, and are you worrie worried? we came to this late. we didn't grow up in a world defined by the internet. there was no twitter, facebook.

i don't know how we survived. but how much are you worried about your 9-year-olds, you know, because this is second nature to them. that maybe there's too much in their lives? >> right. we do worry, and we see that they have friends of theirs who are much more tech savvy than them. they had friends who were -- when they were 5, 6, who already had blogs. we also find parents sitting down with their kids and lying about their kids' age, you know, facebook, terms of service says you have to be 13 to use it. 8, 9, 10-year-olds, parents sit down and let them lie about this thing that they will be using for a long time to come. so i think parents have a responsibility. and not to say that, well, the kids need to learn all this stuff because otherwise they'll be left behind, i don't worry about that at all. >> and sarah, i think you hit on a salient point. whenever we have articles of this type, people are, you know, they're -- they don't leave the house for days because they're staring at the screens. and they're spending all their time on facebook or whatever. it's always -- often portrayed, i should say, as a kind of a

dark, nefarious, anti-social activity. but not only can we learn a lot from all of these sources of online information, but it does provide connections with other people. >> yeah. absolutely. i'm more in touch with people i grew up with. you know, i never have to lose touch with anyone in the world. i know that people say that, oh, it's more shallow relationships. but you know, i think i have more of them. that's a good thing. i think the real issue here is less facebook and twitter, it's more the iphone. the fact that we're carrying computers around with us. and on one level, you know, that's a bad thing when it comes to texts and driving, like sree says. but it's a good thing pause it means we're doing this interact while we're in the world. i don't see a problem in checking e-mail while i'm? n li -- while i'm in line at the post office. to me that's more social and healthy than sitting home in the dark for an hour doing it. >> right. i think you hit on the great accomplishment of facebook is that you can check out what your ex-girlfriend or ex-boyfriend is doing and not lose sight of --

>> i know you do that every weekend, howard. >> i was hoping not to bring that up. sree, isn't there a danger that all this connectivity and whether it's on the phone, the smartphone or on the screen or on the ipad or the laptop, all these devices, that in some ways it becomes a substitute for real life? >> absolutely. i know people who worry so much about what picture to capture instead of experiencing it themselves. i tell people if you're on foursquare, after twitter and facebook, people use that as a way to check in and tell people where they are at the moment, you know, sort of paying attention to the person you're having dinner with, that that is going to be issues, an issue that affects relationships. we have seen that already. but these stories have been done, i think, to death on covers of magazines. of news magazines, for the last 20, 25 years about how terrible technology is and how it's ruining our lives and causing many of the things we've already talked about. >> same magazines that try to

interest you in their ipad app. >> right. >> sarah, if the internet doesn't cause psychosis, how about neurosis? are there times when you feel like technology has taken over your life? >> it's absolutely taken over my life. but i also make a great living because of the internet. i mean, you know, my entire world as a business reporter has been an exciting ride because of what the internet's made possible. and everything that's been created out of silicon valley. >> right. >> you're not going to find me complaining about it. >> let me get sree in on the question in the remaining half minute. >> yeah. i think that there -- what we have to worry about is where do we go from here in terms of can we log off for our own sake and also for the sake of our friends and family, but at the same time, our bosses are expecting in this particular time of economic, you know, tight not that they want us to be more productive and be on line and participate. so it's very hard to kind of separate that out. and that's something that we are going to watch, become even more

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those "real housewives" has a new series coming out this fall called "silicon valley." here's how it's being marketed. >> like being the new rock stars. >> bravo's following these hot, young professionals with big dreams on the road to becoming techie superstars. >> some of the brightest minds in the world are right here. >> silicon valley is high school, but it's only the smart kids. and everyone has a lot of money. >> on "silicon valley."

>> and sarah lacy of pandodaily, you totally went off on this bravo series when the trailer came out. why? >> you know, silicon valley is a place that will forgive a lot of bad behavior. the one thing it will not forgive is a lack of authenticity. and there is nothing about this show that is grounded in reality. these people in the most bullish funding time ever in the valley history or close to are these guys who are supposed entrepreneurs in the show are struggling to raise even $500,000. all they're trying to do is get fame and money. >> this story landed on the front page of "the new york times" this week, after you wrote about it. are you critical of one of the producers, randy zuckerberg, the sister of mark zuckerberg. you've known her a long time but wrote such things as "how can you sleep at night?" >> yeah, that's the problem with the show is, look, this is not just a show about these

individuals. it's a show calling itself "sill son valley." it's a show that's purporting t represent silicon valley. when you have that associated with it, people call it truth. people said, this is reality tv, why do you expect it to be true? people will take is t that way. that's a disservice to the industry. >> was it difficult for you to criticize randi zuckerberg the way you did, since you, you know, have some relationship with her? >> look, i mean, i have relationships with a lot of people in silicon valley. you know, i can't be in a place and write about it and, you know, have my own authenticity. back to that sort of cardinal virtue, without calling things like i see them. you know, i was happy to sit down and talk to her about it, as well. she didn't take me occupy that offer. >> she didn't take up "the new york times" either, which wrote about. it i mentioned she declined to be interviewed. she wrote on her facebook page, "inspiring more people to pursue an entrepreneurial american dream can only be a good thing." she's obviously defending her

role in helping get the series on to bravo. >> what she also said in the same facebook note of, "this isn't a documentary. this is entertainment." i've talked to people who own office spaces that these so-called entrepreneurs work out of. they've said, you know, we need releases because we have to fictionalize a party stage here. the way they're walking around in the valley, it's absurd. some of the stars are staying in a mansion in the castro that costs $17,000 a month. there is nothing silicon valley about that. entrepreneurs make less than $50,000 and eat ramen noodles and work 24 hours a day. >> if fairness we haven't seen the whole show. when we do, maybe we'll come back -- offer our opinion. sarah lacy, thanks for stopping by this sunday morning. >> thanks, howie. and next on "reliable sources," diane sawyer is creating a softer, more emotional evening newscast. how does that differ from what

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for the kind of stories that diane sawyer has been using to kick off world news. the insurgent lead. insurgent is a word that means to rise up against executive order. she's been telling stories with a conservative element as opposed to, say, news from the beltway. >> tonight on "world news," a landmark verdict says a driver who was texting behind the wheel is guilty of homicide. tonight on "world news," blazing heat, dangerously high temperatures fuel more than a dozen wildfires in nine states. tonight on "world news,"

bullying bombshell. tears and anger in the courtroom. the student who spied on his gay roommate sentenced to just 30 days in jail. >> scott peley's cbs evening news has the hardest edge, heavy on politics and foreign affairs. >> shameless brutality. those are the word the united states chose today to describe bashar al assad's all-out military assault on syria's freedom movement. >> and brian williams' n"nbc nightly news" takes out a middle ground using folksy introductions to sets up political stories. >> tonight people are on the move, and mall parking lots are full as the distress of every day life and week running up to christmas. the nation's elected representatives are fighting, and are again deadlocked between parties and within parties. >> so what do these choices tell us about how the networks cover the news? joining us now in new york, paul freedman who wrote the article for the columbia journalism review. professional in residence at quinnipiac school of

communications and former vice president at cbs news as well as a veteran of abc and nbc news. and andrew tindel, founder of the tindell report that monitors the three evening network newscasts. paul freedman, what is diane sawyer trying to do with her insurgent newscast? i? think all three newscasts -- >> i think all three evening newscasts are trying to differentiate themselves in an era when there's a lot of competition for the audience. >> and in particular because diane sawyer seems to be trying not to do what the other two are doing -- i take your point about all three following their own path. how would you summarize the changes in "world news" in the last year under sawyer? >> the differences are clearest at abc. they are focusing on more popular stories, on news you can use, on consumer stories, on health stories. they're still quite capable of doing a terrific job on the traditional news, but they prefer to put the emphasis on more popular stories. >> andrew tindell, you have written about the newscast. and you say of abc's "world

news" that there's a lot less foreign news than on the other broadcasts and it also has a morning show sensibility. explain. >> yes. on the -- if you think of the big, major foreign news stories that happened in the first six months of the year, the revolution in syria, the ongoing war in afghanistan, the chinese -- the blind chinese dissident who escaped and came to the united states, the crisis in the eurozone, on all of those, the amount of coverage on abc is minimal compared to the coverage especially on scott pelley's cbs evening news. the switch from foreign to domestic has been extreme since diane sawyer took over. the only foreign story that's received considerable attention on abc news was the diamond jubilee of the queen of england which is more celebrity story than a foreign story. >> what about what you call the "morning show sensibility." diane sawyer, of course, spent more than a decade as co-host of "good morning america." >> yeah.

and this change has happened under the presidency at abc news of ben sherwood, who was her executive producer at "good morning america." add the two together, and the morning sensibility has stories about personal health, personal finances. things that exist in one's own life, but also there's a category of story we call water cooler stories. basically you settle a dispute that may or may not be newsworthy or important, but it allows people to have vociferous discussions over a water cooler over the pros and cons of a story. the tabloid label is often used for this category of stories, and for instance, the trial of john edwards was much more heavily covered by abc than either by cbs or by nbc. >> right. of course, he was a former presidential candidate. paul friedman, what about the water cooler aspect? is that good for an evening nurz to do, to engage viewers and try to stay away from some of the worthy, important stories that a lot of folks don't care much

about? >> well, it's not necessarily a bad thing. it's a matter of the balance. it's a matter of the balance within a program and the balance over the course of time. i'm not immune to wanting to see a story about a cute animal. they do a lot of that on "world news." but the question is whether those stories push out everything else that's important. >> because you have that limited time, about 22 minutes minus commercials. >> right. right. >> but as you know, paul, many in the journalistic establishment say, well, she's leading with the weather, she's leading with some criminal trial. that these aren't the important stories s. that a fair bit of criticism? >> yes, it is fair. but it's important to understand that the competitive situation is very tough. these newscasts used to have 90% of the audience at 6:30. you that no ha-- they now have about 30. it's their job to be relevant and useful to the audience.

abc is clearly choosing this path which is new in the evening news field. and it remains to be seen whether it will work and, more importantly, whether as some news purists worry it will force the other newscasts to go "down market." >> right. it does seem to be helping abc in the rating, is number two behind nbc nightly news. >> i would quibble about the thing that this is the new thing in the nightly news casts. there have been other periods where one or other of these news casts have tried too take the tabloid root in order to boost their rating. for instance, nbc went from being number three to number one, largely on the strength of hitching its wagon to the o.j. simpson trial in the mid '90s. when brian williams inherited the show from tom brokaw, it got to number one. but it didn't get to number one doing hard knows. it got to number one doing tabloid news. >> i remember the o.j. period vividly. scott pelley clearly doing the most traditional, hard news

broadcast. but it's awfully meat and potatoes you say, andrew, very few warm and fuzzy stories. >> yes. what paul said really good index of how committed to warm and fuzzy is how many animal stories you have and you don't hardly see any animal stories on cbs. >> the cute cat measurement may be something we can invent here. and paul, brian williams kind of doing, he has obviously the number one-rated news cast. kind of down the middle, tackles a lot of important stories. does a lot of politics, but at least introduces them with a more personal take. >> and also has a nice sense of humor which he's able to demonstrate in little items alone the way in the news cast. but it's the most traditional of the three now in the sense that it has the most traditional mix of both hard news and feature stories. >> so more traditional in that sense than scott pelley, who you would say is trying to establish his own identity? as a hard news guy? >> right. i cannot recall a program as

unremittingly serious as the scott pelley program is. >> okay. i just want to touch on one other thing here and that is news from a gallup poll this week not just about the network news casts but television news in general falling to an all-time low in terms of people exhibiting a lot of trust in it. a low of 21%. that compares to 46% back in 1993. who's to blame for that precipitous decline, andrew? >> well, i think the observation that paul made in his article is the correct one. which is back in the day, when you talked about tv news, you knew what you were talking about. you were talking about the same gender on all news casts. especially on all network news casts. now there's such variety, when you talk about tv news, people don't know what you're talking about. are you talking about fox news, your local news at 11:00, are you talking about the network nightly news or good morning america? there's no such thing as tv news as a category. >> excellent point. brief observation, paul

friedman? cable news obviously playing much more prominent role in 2012. >> yeah. the audience is fragmented. that's one of the reasons the evening news casts are trying to develop different identities. i just hope in the process of developing those different identities they don't lose their credibility. which is the single most important thing they have. >> but of course the news not new to most people at 6:30. paul friedman, andrew tindall, thanks very much. still to come, a flood of bogus bylines. another inethical intern and a surprising name surfaces on allen sorkin's cable news drama.

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time now for the media monitor. our weekly look at the hits and errors in the news business. some young journalists just aren't getting the message about ethics. we told you a couple weeks ago how "the wall street journal" had dismissed an intern for making up quotes. and by the way, the huffington post has since taken down a story by him after finding it was fabricated. now npr has deleted an online story by an intern. this one is even worse. a first-person piece in which he recounted having seen a public execution in kabul. the problem is that while shafi

was, indeed, there, parts of the piece were plagiarized almost word for word from a london review brooks article that ran back in 2001. npr expressed regret for the mistake saying that english isn't his first language and that quote, he was completely upfront and honest and deeply contrite about the blunder. glad to hear it but stealing other people's work is bad news in any language. if you can't believe the name on a story what can you believe? journatic is a company that provides stories to newspaper. a kind of media outsoring. it turns out the company has been slapping fake bylines on many of these pieces. a freelancer was quoted saying he reworked stories for a pittance in writers in places like the philippines and put fake names on them. these are in the chicago sub-times which has ended its relationship with the firm. bogus bylines occurred in the

chicago tribune. the tribune said it was suspending its relationship with the company. now i am a big fan of aaron sorkin, and as you may recall, was not a big fan of his hbo series, the newsroom which seemed filled with journalists making self-righteous speeches. well i've warmed to it a little bit. there was one speech i sort of liked as the anchor jeff daniels tries to do a more responsible news cast and drops 7% in the ratings. sam waterston, the news division chief is defending himself against the suits include the head of the company jane fonda. >> media matters think progress, how art kurtz and the columbia journalism review all braised our coverage of the times square bomb. >> do any of them advertise on our network? >> i don't believe they advertise anywhere. >> that's right. aaron sorkin is making it seem like i as a media critic have given my august stamp of approval to his brave brand of journalism on this fictional news cast. the sad truth is he never even

consulted me. wouldn't accept my gracious invitation to come on this program. how do i feel about sorkin using my reputation to validate his news room? maybe it's good for a brand. that's it for this edition of "reliable sources". i'm howard kurtz. if you miss a program you can go to itunes on mondays and download a free audio podcast or buy the video version. we'll be back next sunday morning for another critical look at the media. state of the union with candy crowley begins right now. romney struggles to control the message. today, the battle over bain. >> you're ultimately responsible for the conduct of your operations, but again that's probably a question he's going to have to answer and i think that's a legitimate part of the campaign. >> this is all an effort on the part of the president's campaign to divert attention from the fact that the president has been a failure when it comes to reigniting america's economy. >> the romney pushback with senior adviser ed gillespie,

then obama campaign senior adviser david axelrod. and the states brace for federal cuts. the view from the governor's office with virginia republican bob mcdonnell and massachusetts democrat deval patrick. plus, floods, fires, and drought. what it means for farmers and your grocery bill with agriculture secretary tom vilsack. i'm candy crowley, and this is "state of the union." in an election about the economy, the obama campaign has made it a mission to discredit mitt romney's business credentials. recently it zeroed in on filings to the s.e.c. from bain capital listing romney as head of bain, up to three years after romney says he left bain. it's important because camp obama is using some of the bain investments during the disputed time against romney. >> i think most americans figure if you're the chairman, ceo, and president of a company, that you are responsible for what that company does. >> obama's deputy campaign