joining us now in new york, ben smith, editor in chief of buzz feed.com xshgs here in washington jennifer ruben, author of the washington post right turn blog and bill press, host of current tv's full court press and his siriusxm radio show. romney hasn't been a big media basher. he was saluting the newspaper association of america, responsible, accurate, relevant press. now that he has taken this shot, does he risk further alienating the people in the press? >> you know, i think that old line about not alienating people who buy ink by the barrel is long gone. you see, it's almost part of politics now to attack the press. barack obama did it constantly in 2008. sneered at the cable news psych until particular, and i think for republicans right now to say to the press, i think it's almost part of the party platform that the press is biassed against you. >> jennifer ruben, romney has been doing a lot of intufrz with local television stations. can you run in a general election as opposed to republican primary mainly by dealing with the conservative media? >> to. i don't think so. actually, he hasn

press, i think it's almost part of the party platform that the press is biassed against you. >> jennifer ruben, romney has been doing a lot of intufrz with local television stations. can you run in a general election as opposed to republican primary mainly by dealing with the conservative media? >> to. i don't think so. actually, he hasn't been very friendly to the conservative media either. as you have written and i have written, he has had a hostile ri7. >> you interviewed him once. >> i interviewed hill once. many on the conservative side have interviewed him. it has been a mistake. i have written him throughout that he should be more accessible. he is a good spokesman for his own cause. >> why is he so wary of the press in general and even the conservative media in particular? >> i think this goes to the overall caution of the campaign, the desire not to make any mistakes, but i think by restricting him, it highlights each and every incident so if he makes a small mistake in one, it really stands out. if he did more of these, it would blend into the background. >> i think you're right. whe