Does Howie Kurtz’s front-page Washington Post treatment of the David Letterman "scandal" and subsequent shakedown really deserve a second article on the front of the Style section the same day and a Letterman-headlined WaPo0 chat Monday? Or is there a word in the scandal that makes a thrill go up the Hacktackular One’s leg? Is that word Stephanie Birkett’s first job title: intern?

Kurtz’s front-page splash on Saturday began with a breathless tick-tock worthy of, oh, I don’t know, maybe the revelation of a Nevada Senator’s staff liaison and blackmail negotiation?

The sun was not yet up when David Letterman stepped into a limousine outside his home and saw the one-page letter that threatened to reveal the secret details of his personal life.

It was 6 a.m. on Sept. 9, and the CBS star immediately saw that whoever was trying to extort him had the goods. The person knew that the married comedian had done terrible things, that he’d had sex with women who worked for him at "Late Show." And, the letter warned, he had just two hours to respond.

What followed was three meetings at New York’s stately Essex House, the last of which, on Wednesday, was secretly recorded by detectives in an adjoining hotel room. And in an undeniable black eye for the network, prosecutors said Friday that the extortionist was a veteran CBS News producer who proceeded to deposit the bogus $2 million check handed him by Letterman as part of the undercover sting.

Captivated by his own view of the prurient aspects of the case, in another article (probably deemed "commentary" by the WaPo Style editors who put it on their Page One) the same day, Kurtz got right down to what you might be doing when you’re watching Dave:

A man who makes his living mocking such ripe targets as philandering politicians has suddenly become a national punch line.

A veteran entertainer who comes into people’s homes when most of them are in bed has now confessed to "creepy" behavior.

Eeeeew. Here’s a hint, Howard: the person on the television isn’t actually in your home! And without Letterman himself cracking wise, is he really a national punch line? Kurtz provides no examples.

He does quotes a couple of public relations executives (pee-ahr, dahlinK!) who try to set him on the right path about a story the Beltway Boy finds titillating:

Ken Sunshine, a veteran public-relations specialist, minimizes the professional fallout for Letterman: "He didn’t murder anybody. He was extorted. It’s consenting adults. Nobody’s accusing him of rape. This is shoplifting, maybe. . . . Unless someone accuses him of using his position to forcibly come on to some of the women, to me, it’s none of my damn business."

Michael Sitrick, a Los Angeles publicist, says the public "is more forgiving of someone in the entertainment business" than elected officials. "He had sex with women in the office, and there will be some people upset about this — but I’m not sure his audience really is. If a woman had said, ‘Look, I worked for him, I kept resisting but I was afraid I’d lose my job,’ it would be different."

So, no big deal, right? Oh wait — does disgraced racist broadcaster Don Imus have an opinion? Well, Mistah Kurtz quoted him!

Radio host Don Imus struck a harsher note, telling Fox News that Letterman is "an angry, mean-spirited jerk."

Exempting himself from criticism for any further focus on the story, Kurtz ends his tale with this teaser (there might be more — tune in for tomorrow’s noon chat!):

What happens next depends on the course of the investigation, Letterman’s handling of new revelations and whether other comics lay off their comrade. CBS clearly has a great deal invested in its late-night star. But it’s not hard to come up with a Top Ten List of reasons why Letterman needs to tread carefully.

The one who needs to tread carefully is Howie Kurtz. Who twittered single-mindedly on the topic?

Just finished Letterman stories. Anything else going on in the world? How’d that Olympics thing turn out?

Whose twitters today about his own CNN Reliable Sources program let us know he’s entirely too consumed with another man’s dalliance?

Letterman not a public official. But amazed that one of my panelists said it’s OK for the boss to do an intern. Didn’t we have that debate?

A debate over whether it’s OK for Letterman to do interns. Lisa Bloom, Amy Argetsinger, Ben Mankiewicz and me.

Not a public official, not a family-values preacher, not a choir boy, not a member of your family: Letterman’s an entertainer, and in case Kurtz hasn’t noticed, that business gives wide latitude to its own. As do we, the people formerly known as The Audience.

Writing about Letterman’s extortion from the city where Oklahoma Senator Tom Coburn acted as the go-between for a workplace adulterer and his extortionist suggests Howie Kurtz is dangling a shiny object for the Versailles media to fondle and examine, when there’s lackluster Village media coverage of an in-town crime worth reporting.

I mean, there was actual money paid out in Ensign’s case, and unlike in Letterman’s, no one notified the authorities. Unless you count FOX News as an authority.

Wouldn’t a real media reporter ask questions about the DeeCee’s media near-blackout of the ongoing Coburn/Ensign saga?


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