More fallout for Howard Kurtz, the embattled media reporter unceremoniously dumped by the Daily Beast Thursday after publishing a column that falsely accused the NBA’s Jason Collins of not disclosing the fact that he — a gay man — had once been engaged to a woman. Just a couple of hours later, CNN announced that Kurtz might not host “Reliable Sources” this weekend.
CNN said at presstime it was “reviewing” whether Howard Kurtz would be on his “Reliable Sources” program this weekend, following his departure from Daily Beast, after that Web site retracted Kurtz’s commentary about NBA player Jason Collins
Over at Politico, Dylan Byers reports that the situation is even worse:
CNN also announced that Kurtz’s longtime weekend media criticism show, “Reliable Sources,” was under review.
According to TVNewser, Kurtz’s position at CNN was already tenuous prior to the Collins’ debacle:
A source at CNN tells TVNewser that Kurtz’s current deal with the cable channel will likely be his last. New CNN president Jeff Zucker has made no secret of his desire to rid the channel of long-time contributors that are more closely tied to the channel’s past than its future. It is not clear exactly when his current deal with CNN expires.
If Kurtz loses his “Reliable Sources” spot, this will leave him with only one perch — the Daily Download, the fledgling media criticism start-up that was also tarnished by Kurtz’s error. Kurtz and Daily Download editor and founder, Lauren Ashburn, appeared together in a video where they discussed and joked about the fact that Collins had not disclosed his engagement.
The video later disappeared without any kind of editorial note.
Follow John Nolte on Twitter @NolteNC