Moulitsos v Rove: "Balanced?"

Quicker than he can delete an email, GOP strategist and former White House staff member Karl Rove has agreed to pen opinion pieces for Newsweek, with several columns on the 2008 campaign. They will "balance" this by including internet blogger Markos Moulitsos.

Newsweek's Editor states that “Newsweek has a long tradition of asking practitioners and opinion-makers to offer our readers the benefits of their experience in occasional opinion essays" and further that "whether one agrees or disagrees with Karl, there is no arguing that he has been a critical player in the political world with insights and experiences that we think will give our readers something unique.”

Rove is on record as criticizing journalists and accusing them of relying on polls. He told Rush Limbaugh “If you have to wake up in the morning to be validated by the editorial page of the New York Times, you’ve got a pretty sorry existence.”

As for Markos Moulitsos, founder of the Web site Daily Kos, NewsMax called him "the far right founder of the Web site Daily Kos“ and Newsweek's Editor was quoted as saying, "I’m fully prepared for both the right-wing and left-wing blogosphere to be outraged, which means we’re doing our job.”

Karl Rove is being equated with Markos Moulitsos as far as importance and they are polar opposites on the political spectrum? This seems completely bizarre.

So when I came across Ari Melber's column, I had to email it to myself. Ari worked for John Kerry in Iowa, he is from my city but lives in New York, and I spoke with him at YearlyKos conventions in both Las Vegas and Chicago. He writes for Huffington Post, among other outlets (well, maybe The Nation is a little leftish), but has himself been criticized by some as hawkish for suggesting that Democrats should be strong on security. I would hardly call him, or Markos, for that matter, "far left." Ari is what they used to call "well read," and Markos is a former Republican and vet who advocates some party reform and DailyKos itself has a fairly broad sprawl on the spectrum.

Ari wrote (re Rove and Kos):

This is an odd pair on several levels. First, it makes Kos look huge. His web commentary and grassroots organizing have earned him a media perch on par with one of the most powerful people to ever work in the Bush White House. (snip)

Second, it reveals a common misunderstanding of partisanship in the traditional media. In this model, Rove and Moulitsos automatically balance out each other's partisanship, because they are political operators. I doubt it. Rove has spent an entire political career devoted to the advancement of the G.O.P. and its politicians. Moulitsas has spent his political career toggling between support and confrontation with the Democratic Party. Yes, he's a liberal partisan Democrat who generally wants the party to win. But he has repeatedly challenged Democratic politicians, offering criticism, scorn, ridicule and several well-funded primary challenges. He even sits on the board of They Work For Us, an independent organization devoted to pressuring incumbent Democrats and supporting primary challenges.

So while Rove and Moulitsos are both more politically active than a typical columnist, they are nowhere near equal on the partisanship scale.

(snip)

Third, of course, there's this constant media fixation with "balance" itself. If the goal is something like equal time for liberals and conservatives, most of the media is failing badly. A recent study found conservatives have 60% of the the syndicated newspaper columns, while 58% of the Sunday show guests were conservative in 2005.

-- Here is an example of Markos' work for - Newsweek - watch for Rove.