right-wing revolt against romney? the "politico" reporter who lost his job after making racially charged comments on more than. we'll talk to joe williams about what happened. plus, we all thought we knew the story of barack obama's early years. but thanks to four years of relentless reporting, david mariness has cost it in a whole new light. >> what obsessed me were two things to start with -- the world that made him. sort of the randomness of his existence, and the ability to write about the whole world through that story. and then how he remade himself. >> a conversation about his book on the president. i'm hurd kurt-- i'm howard kurt and this is "reliable sources." i am starting to get the distinct impression that rules package isn-- that rupert murdo isn't a huge fan of mitt romney. mitt romney last week, tough o chicago pros will be hard to beat unless he drops old friends and hires real pros, doubtful. i'm sure it was a coincidence, but days later, the "wall street journal" which is owned by murdoch, spanked romney in an editorial saying the republican nominee is slowly squandering a historic opportunity to beat barack obama and letting the president paint hip as an out-of-touch rich man. other conservative pundits are piling on. >> the romney campaign squandering a big, fat gift. over the past week, the campaign has lost the momentum created by a terrible obamacare ruling and instead managed to create a new media narrative of gop confusion and descent. >> is this not no friendly fire having impact or just venting in the dog days of summer? joining us, julie, host of the press pool on sirius x.m. radio, and matt bye. what is rupert murdoch trying to accomplish with the 140-character swipes at romney? >> the dignity has gone out of this. rupert murdoch tweeting it mitt romney and the editorial, you didn't mention william crystal, also who doubled down and compared -- >> we'll get to that. >> we'll get to him. i read in "the new york times" that -- that rupert murdoch wanted chris kristi to run. >> is does this criticism matter? >> sure it matters. it controls a bullhorn in the media. he put out a tweet. i put out a tweet like that, no one would look at it for a year. look, there is a -- historical analogies in our business, and most are lame. but having put that disclaimer out there, this reminds me so much, this campaign, in many ways of 2004. so many similarities between romney and john kerry and the situation they faced, they're from the same state. they have similar weak nots, personalities. one of the things so similar, the base of the party, the ideological base of the party, never believed he was resolute enough. they saw him as the best acceptable alternative. the best acceptable vehicle out there. but they were always ready to pounce. and i think the same thing is true of romney now. >> no secret that many of these conservative commentators didn't support romney in the primaries, didn't want him to be the nominee. take a step back, julie. should the head of a giant global media company be meeting privately with the presidential candidate, giving him advice, then criticizing him, then following up saying of course i want him to 2009 save us from socialism? what position does that put reporters in? >> no, i think there's still the dividing line between the editorial page of even a powerful newspaper and major personality like rupert murdoch and the reporter at the "wall street journal" who are just nonparalleled excellent. >> i believe that, you believe that. but in terms of the image this created, doesn't it seem like the guy who runs the company has made his mind and wants to be a player? >> he's made his mind, but so many want to be players. i think it's a problem for mitt romney. it's a problem for the credibility of the "wall street journal." was that your question? >> yeah. i'm not sure i agree. people who want believe that fox news is biased will say look at what rupert murdoch's saying. take the "journal" editorial page, the bible for conservatives. ripping romney for floundering on the question about the health care mandate that was upheld by the supreme court. whether it's a penalty or a tax. i don't know that the average voter cares about that. but i do think the "journal" editorial page, you know, carries considerable weight. >> it does. yeah. i mean, there's nothing new about media moguls wanting to weigh in on -- robert kennedy went to indiana in the primaries in 1968. the paper that -- major newspaper, refused to acknowledge his existence in the state. they didn't like him -- >> not ben bradley, of course, another one. >> ben bradley was the editor of the newspaper. and ""newsweek's"" bureau chief during the john f. kennedy years. >> and was close, had a role, had a voice. >> i think there's also something going on. remember the "saturday night live" skit with onlovitz, he says, i can't believe i'm losing to this guy. in this day and age, the base of the parties are so convinced. seems so self-evident that the guy they're running against is completely hapless and unqualified. they can't understand why you're not up by ten points. >> right. >> i think some of this is a frustration of murdoch and crystal and others saying i can't believe we're not beating this guy. >> keep in mind that murdoch's news corp. contributed $1 million last cycle to the republican governor association. so the play is on the financial end, as well. on this tax and a mandate and obamacare, 45% in a new poll said they didn't know which way the supreme court had ruled or thought the supreme court ruled the other way and struck down the law. which makes me realize that things that we obsess on in the media sometimes are not breaking through to people in the dog days of summer. youention mentioned bill chrisl likening romney to kerry and dukakis, shall we say -- i'm struck by the way they seem to be turning on -- not cheerleading. >> that's the point here. not whether or not it's a tax or penalty. i think people don't care, that's a washington hob-nob. rhetorical debate. the idea of the party leaders men of name like crystal and murdoch not liking mitt romney underscores a lot of the uneasiness that the rest of the party has. i think that's where the trouble is for mitt romney. >> but is that an inside the beltway, inside new york thing, or could it actually shape perceptions around the ford general election voters? >> i think it does shape perceptions because people sit around and talk about it. i also think it's worth that campaign listening to that. a lot of people -- and bill crystal said something interesting. and i think the same was true, and i wrote about it with john kerry in 2004. that romney wants to get from point a to point b with excessive caution, without having to risk, to take the risk of putting out ideas or debating the points. that he think the president is unpopular enough that he should be able to glide through. i think john kerry made the same mistake. i think if the romney campaign is actually listening to that criticism as opposed to getting their back up over it, they might actually -- might benefit from it. >> and speaking of perceptions, mitt romney with his family taking a vacation this week at his lakeside retreat in new hampshire. and here it is on the front page of "the new york times," julie. contrasting romney with the jet skis. we see that on the screen now. with barack obama talking about the -- having once taken a bus trip vacation with his grandmother and staying at howard johnsons. the press really seems obsessed with romney's wealth. he has -- he has four houses. he's rich, get over it. why -- >> take the car elevator. he's not like the rest of us. and also, yes, barack obama talked about his trip on the bus and everything. but the startling contrast was that barack obama canceled his annual trip to martha's vineyard. the optics of that would be untenable. they all need the time to campaign. >> let the guy take a vacation. i think journalists make too much of this. everybody knows that romney is a wealthy man. he made the money himself. >> right. >> and yet, you see this theme come up in stories again and again and again. is it a fair thing to harp on? >> yes. and i'll tell you why. i don't think -- i agree with you that i don't think the sweth a defining characteristic. i think you should be able to be wealthy and serve the public. we should actually welcome that. what you can't do -- i think -- is provide no context for who you are or your candidacy. not do interviews, not talk to the press, do limited availabilities. again, it goes to the point of excessive caution. trying to get from point a to point b without taking the risk of people knowing you or what your ideas or core are. and then say, well, you're harping on the small part of me, i have a car garage. that car garage has no context. give people context for who you are, and i think you get a break for things you probably ought to get a break for. right now he's a rich guy running for president and not giving anybody a more complete picture. >> romney did an interview with cbs this week. he often doesn't answer the questions when pressed on specifics. that's something that frustrates me in all presidential campaigns. julie mason, thank you very much. matt bai, stick around. coming up, matt will explain why he doesn't always pay attention to the media. ow the weather patterns. i upgraded to the new sprint direct connect. so i can get three times the coverage. 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[ chirp ] visit a sprint store, or call 855-878-4biz. one is for a clean, wedomestic energy future that puts us in control. our abundant natural gas is already saving us money, producing cleaner electricity, putting us to work here in america and supporting wind and solar. though all energy development comes with some risk, we're committed to safely and responsibly producing natural gas. it's not a dream. america's natural gas... putting us in control of our energy future, now. his morning starts with arthritis pain. and two pills. afternoon's overhaul starts with more pain. more pills. triple checking hydraulics. the evening brings more pain. so, back to more pills. almost done, when... hang on. stan's doctor recommended aleve. it can keep pain away all day with fewer pills than tylenol. this is rudy. who switched to aleve. and two pills for a day free of pain. ♪ [ female announcer ] and try aleve for relief from tough headaches. i tell mike what i can spend. i do my best to make that work. we're driving safely. and sue saved money on brakes. now that's personal pricing. we're back with matt bai of "new york times" magazine. the first assignment of many reporters is pulling the clips. you don't do that, why? >> i don't do that because particularly i want to stay away from the commentary. i want to know the news, what someone has said. i think the biggest challenge in our business, one of them certainly, is to not fall into the rut of one side's argument or the other's. to be away from the conventional wisdom. people say, it sounds like the same thing over and over. how do you get beyond it? i think the only way to get beyond it is to not have stuff, for me anyway, is to not have that stuff floating around my head. i want to know what happens, what's in the news every day. but i'm not interested particularly as a writer in what's being said on twitter, what's being said on blogs, what's being said on cable tv. because i -- i think my experience is that if you go out and talk to people with an open mind and actually ask questions and actually try to figure it out yourself, where you stand, nine times out of ten -- there's right, you might end up right where conventional wisdom is. but nine times out of ten if you don't know the arguments, the partisanship and carping, you don't have that in your head, you will come to a place that -- that is different and that is more complex. >> do you avoid watching cable news when you're not on it? >> i do. i don't know that avoid is the right word. i have a lot to do, i have my job and kids -- >> you have a life, we've established that. >> i don't pay a lot of attention to -- >> a lot of the circus of politics is played out precisely for the tv cameras, the cable news, even on twitter where the top officials snipe each other. if you're removing yourself from that, aren't you missing part of the context of today's political combat? >> no because i'm interested in the yesterdays and the truth of the debate and where it affects the country on a policy and political level. i'm not interested in where it affects the media debate. that's my opening. that's -- as a magazine writer that's my opportunity because everyone is watching the show. something behind the show is something that matters more to voters and more to the process. and -- if you can keep yourself free of all of that, first of all, i think you have happier quality of life because you're not constantly engaged in this debate. but i also think you -- you know, you come to conclusions that are different and more complex than -- >> in a way, this amounts to -- i know you don't intend it this way, but it amounts to an indictment of what many of us in the press do. that we are engaged in a group think or conventional wisdom that often turn out to be wrong or perhaps beside the point. >> i don't intend it that way. i have a different job than those folks do. >> right. >> right, i mean, there are folks whose job, many here, elsewhere, whose job is to make sense of it instantly for people. and to put it in the -- the political context. >> you have the luxury of time. >> i have the luxury, the responsibility to put it in some deeper context for a magazine. and get beneath that side of the debate. and also to nominate -- to focus on what is it here that matters and how close can we get to the truth of it. >> refreshing approach. matt bai, thank you very much for stopping by this sunday morning. coming up in the second part of "reliable sources," anderson cooper reveals what everyone pretty much knew, he's gay. why is that such big news? 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[ male announcer ] the citi thankyou visa card. redeem the points you've earned to travel with no restrictions. rewarding you, every step of the way. you might have thoughts that if anderson cooper was finally going to address rumors about his homosexuality he would have done it on his daytime show and made a splash. instead he did it in an e-mail to his long-time friend andrew sullivan. he's long felt journalists had the right to keep their private lives private, he says, it's become clear that by remaining silent on aspects of my personal life i've given some the mistaken impression that i'm trying to hide something that makes me uncomfortable, afraid, or ashamed. this is distressing because it's not true. the fact is, i'm gay, always have been. i couldn't be more happy, confident in myself, and proud. what should we make of the media coverage? joining us, gale shuster, columnist for tv newser, writing fellow at the university of pennsylvania, and member of the national lesbian and gay journalists association hall of fame. in new york, host of the sirius x.m. radio show and editor at large of the "huffington post" good day voices. and in tampa, eric deggans, television and media critic for "the tampa bay times." eric, anderson cooper did everything he could to downplay this, not only announcing by e-mail by waiting until he was on assignment in africa to go public. yet it was still a big story, why? >> well, i think it's important -- for a couple of reasons. "the new york times," for example, noted that he is now the most visible gay journalist on american television. and there's also a sense that it's a sign post. it's a sense that, you know, we're advancing in our acceptance of homosexuality and gay people in public life. what was interesting to me was to see the tension for anderson cooper between. ing to do it right personally and also doing something to serve a larger cause. to serve acceptance of gay people in society and deal with the fact that some people are stigmatized and bullied and harmed by anti-gay prejudice. >> which sets up my question for mike, which is you say that the vast majority of tv, media, and hollywood personalities are still closeted. why do they stay in? >> well, you know, for years they've been told by the powers that be in hollywood, in the media, in politics, as well, that it's going to harm your career. it's going to hurt you,a t's going to be something terrible for much of your working life. and i think that's changed. certainly we've seen with many of the actors who have come out, performers, ellen degeneres, and other. and i think we really sort of moved quickly on so many issues regarding gay life that suddenly a lot of these people started looking at it and saying, wow, not only would it be okay but, in fact, it's an embarrassment now to be in the closet. and i think that's one reason why anderson and others -- i wrote a piece on "huffington post" about how the new trend is doing it low key because i think there's an embarrassment to having been in the closet. and they want to slip out. >> let me jump on that for a minute. why should it be an embarrassment for somebody who happens to be in the public eye maybe because they make a living in front of the cameras to keep their sexual life private? why should there be pressure on them to go public? >> well, it's not about their sexual life. and certainly nobody's talking about anything regarding sex. and you know, that should be the same way with heterosexuals. it's about who you are. it's about something so much a part of your core being. and people like anderson, people like many of the other stars who have come out, they've been living their lives openly among their colleagues. certainly in their social life. it just is the public that didn't know. and i think for them that really starts to look like they're h