coverage of the olympic. especially after complaints to twitter led to retaliation against the british newspaper critic. what were these companies thinking? a freelance reporter exposes new yorker writer joan elyra as a serial fabricator who made up quotes from bob dylan. and lara stonewalled him the whole time. >> he lied to me in that conversation, actually. he lied to me in his confession. >> we'll talk to michael moynihan about how he feels about costing lehrer his job. talk about lying, the former editor of "the new york times" is the victim of a hoax perpetrated by wikileaks. bill keller on that bizarre episode, media bias, and feelings about fox news. i'm howard kurtz, and this is "reliable sources." now if you had to pick a moment, a snapshot, a glimpse of the tensions between romney and the press corps, it would have to be this. at the tail end of a foreign trip consumed by negative headlines, the republican candidate was walking toward his car after a wreath-laying ceremony within earshot of reporters. >> governor romney? >> can you comment on the mishaps during your trip? >> governor romney, do you have a statement for the palestinians? >> what about your gaffe? >> governor romney, do you feel that your gaffes have overshadowed your foreign trip? >> this is a holy site for the polish people. show some respect. >> we haven't had the opportunity to ask questions. >> this is a holy site for the polish people. show some respect. >> all right. the press doesn't look great in poland, but the reporters were a model of decorum compared to rick gorham. who's to blame for the deteriorating relationship with the media? joining us, debra sanders, columnist for "the san francisco chronicle." and here, michael sheer, "the new york times." and bill press, host of current tv's "full court press." michael sheer, that was the last stop of the trip. reporters weren't going to have another crack at romney. they had the shot. was that the symptom of a deteriorating relationship? >> i think it was definitely a symptom of a problem on the trip in which the campaign had made the conscious choice t put romney in interviews with television anchors but to keep him away from the reporters that were traveling with him. and what they i think discovered in the send if they had taken a few minutes with the reporters, done a little press, 15 minutes every day, they probably would have avoided that scene. >> on friday perhaps in responding to the criticism, romney did hold a press availability in las vegas. debra saunders, when he goes to three different countries and -- and news organizations are spending all this money to send reporters on the trip, and they get three questions, does that in your view effect the tone of the coverage? >> yes, it does. in fact, governor romney was in california recently. he went to solyndra. i was on the press bus. they had this order that we couldn't tweet before we got to solyndra. it's sort of silly stuff that they do. people pay a lot of money to follow these things, to be on the road with him. and they get angry. it's not a smart way to deal with the press. having said that, i think we in the media look ridiculous the way we're covering this race. we're doing so many gaffe. we ought to talk about the real reason we're doing. we're understaffed, and we're overworked. if we can get him to do something we call a gaffe, we can just write a really quick, easy story. doesn't require a lot of research. it's like a rewrite job. there's a big demand, our editors are asking for more and more stuff from us. they whapt we call content. it isn't really. we keep looking for gaffes. and the romney campaign knows it. and so you've got this level of distrust on both sides. journalists who feel that they're being overhandled. and the romney people feel they can't get a fair break from the pack. >> the romney press says he took 150 questions from television reporters on that trip. and gloria borger of cnn interviewed him yesterday. but the print reporters can barely get a break here. >> first of all, this is nothing new. i mean, this -- you, howie, have written about a hostile relationship between mitt romney and the press corps way back in the primary days. >> but it's getting worse. >> i think it is getting worse. this is not the first time. a continuing problem with access to reporters. guys that i know, friends of mine who were on the trip. they didn't go on this trip to write a negative story about romney. they went to write the news. and some -- my advice to the romney campaign, if you don't want negative press, stop saying dumb things. but i want to pick up on what debra said, as well. i think -- i agree her. and i agree with you, debra. and with -- but i would add something else. i think there's a laziness on the part of the press corps, particularly some of us in cable television that it's easier to talk about gaffes than to talk about serious policy stuff. somebody says something maybe unintended that out of context could be taken a wrong way, and then the media do nothing but report and talk about that for two days. you know what, it's easy to do. >> michael shear? >> i mean, i think that's a -- a good indictment of the current situation with the press. i think that's true. you know, i -- i do think, however, that, you know, this is a symbiotic relationship in the campaigns, both the obama campaign and romney campaign. they understand this situation. and so you know, there's not a lot of policy coming out from there either. because they don't want us to spend the time to investigate. >> i want to circle back. i first want to ask something specific. i spoke with stuart stevens, top strategist. he called the associate ed press extremely irresponsible in the handling of the palestinian flap, that mitt romney while in israel at a jerusalem fundraiser, talked about how the palestinians' culture was hurting its economy. the romney camp's complaint is that no effort to get comment after that. that the quote was partial because he mentioned other countries besides israel and the palestinian territories. then took the quote to a palestinian official who said it was racist. legitimate complaint about how that was handled? >> look, i read the piece. and i think their main complaint and their main, you know, where they really get indignant is the sense that what they say the a.p. did was to present a kind of paraphrase and not the actual transcript to the palestinian official who then reacted in a really -- using the word racist. i don't know. i wasn't there. i didn't see what happened. i think as you pointed in your piece, the a.p. defended itself -- >> the a.p. said that it was proud of reporter casey hunt for seeing news in the political comments where other reporters in the room didn't and hadn't reported it initially. >> look, howie, the romney campaign said if only she had waited three or four hours until they got the poll in, they could have clarified this remark for her. i'm sorry, in today's news cycle, you don't wait three -- nobody is going to wait three or four hours to get a story out there. so these guys have to get realistic and -- and they have to provide more access. and they've got to be more on the job. >> i want to get debra in on this. let me play something that mitt romney said earlier this week to a fox correspondent that i think suggests that he believes and certainly i know the people around him believe that he is simply not getting a fair shake from the media. let's play that. >> realized that there will be some in the fourth estate or whichever estate who are far more interested in finding something to write about that is unrelated to the economy, to geopolitics, to the threat of war. to the reality of conflict in afghanistan today. to a nuclearization of iran. >> debra, does romney have a point? but you have to lay that against the point that was made earlier at this table which is how much of substance or specificity or new proposals has he had to say on any of this that would provide news for the people covering it? >> well, the romney people put out a 59-point plan a while ago on what he wanted to do for the economy. that didn't get a lot of coverage. what i'd like to see the romney people do -- i don't want to sound like i'm defending them. i don't have good access with that campaign. i've never had a sit down with mitt romney. i'm not -- i'm real unhappy about it -- >> you don't live in a swing state. >> yeah. but they ought to put out a 59 gaffes and see how many stories that gets. there week, mitt romney put out a five-point -- i guess 59 points are too many, right? they come out with the five-point plan. there have been stories about it. face it, everybody wants to talk about the gaffe. they don't want to talk about his policy suggestions. he's had some good interviews. the gloria borger interview, that was a good interview for him. i think that they've decided that that's their strategy. they'll give interviews, they'll say things. but we're just going to cover what -- the gaffe. they think that's what tv's going to do, and that's what print people will do. >> howie, the last time i was on, i checked the transcript. we were talking about gingrich. i said then, i'll say it again -- politicians have to stop whining about the media, just do their job and put the facts out there. it works with the base. everybody wants to hate the mead extra. but that's not a substitute for substance. >> no worse than david brooks from the new york times who said this is the most campaign ever because it's so much focus on gaffes and polls and tactics and attack ads. says that neither candidate, barack obama or mitt romney, is putting on a lot of substance or having a specific proposal in the area of economy, education, you name it. 59-point plans notwithstanding. and that i think maybe helps highlight the gaffes. they're news, at least in the narrow way that we in the press define it. >> i think when we -- when everybody looks back on this as we inevitably do at the end of these campaigns, they're going to find fault with both sides. the dumbing down of the way we cover it and the dumbing down of the way the candidates are presenting -- are holding back information. and not engaging in the kinds of debates because they don't want -- they don't want to engage in the debates. they want the debates to sort of fade to the background. and they can just send out press releases. >> i would argue it is our job to push these issues to the forefront and not just be on a perpetual gaffe control. >> when i think about newt gingrich and michele bachmann and herman cain, the one word i would not put on this campaign is dull. certainly not in the primary. and the other thing -- >> you're living in the past. i've got to go break. coming up, how should journalist treat an unsubstantwaited charge by a top senator? 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[ male announcer ] the all-new cadillac ats. this is the challenge, machine vs. mountain. fore! no matter what small business you are in, managing expenses seems to... get in the way. not anymore. ink, the small business card from chase introduces jot an on-the-go expense app made exclusively for ink customers. custom categorize your expenses anywhere. save time and get back to what you love. the latest innovation. only for ink customers. learn more at chase.com/ink a question for journalist -- what do you do when the senate majority leader makes an explosive charge and has nothing to back it up? >> the word apes o's out that ht paid any taxes for ten years. let him prove that he has paid taxes because he hasn't. >> majority leader harry reid reiterated an unsubstantiated charge he made in recent days. >> talking about mitt romney's secret tax returns. and harry reid is now the one that has to put up or shut up. when mitt romney could shut up harry reid. >> harry reid has to put up or shut up. harry, who are your sources? >> the last comment at romney's press conference in vegas on friday. michael shear, you're co-author of a piece in which you said it was hardly out of character for the cantankerous harry trooed hurl a taunting accusation at romney. took several days, but you made reid the issue. >> and i think -- i think when people make unsubstantiated -- charges with absolutely no proof behind them, you know, one option is to ignore them. and -- for the media. that's not really an option here. he goes to the senate floor, as you saw. i think the best we can do is to, a, demand that he give us the proof. and if he doesn't, clearly say as we did in the piece in the first sentence, it's unsubstantiated. >> now harry reid said that he had gotten this from some unnamed person, used to work at bain. won't reveal it. he thinks it's true. he told use -- an original interview with the "huffington post" which reported it straight except for saying it's impossible to verify because they won't give us the source. is that the correct way to handle it? who should be the issue here? >> there's only one guy who can here this up. it's not harry reid. i'm sorry, it's mitt romney. >> that's a democratic talking point. that's a democratic talking point. what i'm asking is how journalists should handle an unsubstantiated charge. >> i'm going to actual. journalists should handle it by going to mitt romney and say why only two years, why not 23 years? why -- you gave 23 years of it to mccain -- >> it's perfectly okay in your view for harry trooed throw this out -- reid to throw this out, unnamed source -- >> harry reid is not a journalist. harry reid is a democratic politician who doesn't want mitt romney to get elected. what he is doing may be diabolical, but it's brilliant. what's mitt romney been talking about for the last two days? he's been talking about his freaking tax returns. so harry reid is playing hardball. >> maybe diabolical, but -- >> we should not be helping him here. i think -- >> absolutely. >> it their reminds me of when michele bachmann said she met a mother who said her daughter got the hpv vaccine and got mentally retarded afterward. the media jumped on her rightly and said, show us this woman. we're not even sure that this person exists. you know, candy crowley's a great journalist. but she earlier said that harry reid wouldn't reveal his sources. how do we know he has any sources? the accuser, the burden of proof is on the accuser. and harry reid has absolutely not met that burden in any way. i thought frank rooney's piece in "the new york times" today was on the money >> debra, when you say that we, meaning the meadia, shouldn't be helping harry reid with the charge, you're not suggesting that we don't are the it at all. you're suggesting that we challenge him, be skeptical of him? >> until there is proof, the focus is that there's no proof. the focus should be on him, not on someone else. i mean, he's the -- he's the leader of the senate. he has anon gas stati obligatio institution ton make unsubstantiated claims. until he can prove what he's saying, we have to focus on him. >> what is about is an assessment would say that are you right in this narrow sense. worked because it's all over the sunday shows today. still talking about romney's tax returns based on what reid said even though he produced no evidence as you pointed out. >> right. it worked friday when he held the press conference. >> a reporter asked the question -- >> of course. mr. romney wanted to talk about the jobs numbers and attacks that he was leveling on the president. but yet, this got in the way. it's working. and i think debra's right. >> got to go. >> still working today. >> you seem to be enjoying it. bill, debra, michael, thanks for joining us this morning. next, jonah lehrer was riding high at the new yorker until he published a book with suspicious quotes from bob dylan. the journalist who exposed his fabrications in a moment. one a day women's 50+ is a complete multi-vitamin designed for women's health concerns as we age. ♪ it has more of seven antioxidants to support cell health. that's one a day women's 50+ healthy advantage. by what's getting done.. measure commitment the twenty billion dollars bp committed has helped fund economic and environmental recovery. long-term, bp's made a five hundred million dollar commitment to support scientists studying the environment. and the gulf is open for business - the beaches are beautiful, the seafood is delicious. last year, many areas even reported record tourism seasons. the progress continues... but that doesn't mean our job is done. we're still committed to seeing this through. this is new york state. we built the first railway, the first trade route to the west, the greatest empires. then, some said, we lost our edge. well today, there's a new new york state. one that's working to attract businesses and create jobs. a place where innovation meets determination... and businesses lead the world. the new new york works for business. find out how it can work for yours at thenewny.com. who dreamed she could fly. like others who braved the sky before her, it took a mighty machine, and plain old ingenuity to go where no fifth grader had gone before. ♪ and she flew and she flew, into the sky and beyond. my name is annie and i'm the girl who dreamed she could fly. powered by intel core processors. ♪ the first sign of trouble for "new yorker" writer joania lehrer is when he admitted plagiarizing himself. then his chapter on bob dylan came under scrutiny. after weeks of digging, he admitted that "the toyotas in question either did not exist or unintentional misquotations or represented improper conversations of pre-existing quotes. the lies are over now. i want to apologize to everyone i have let down, especially my editors and readers." layerer are has resigned. to find out how moyer cracked the case, i sat down with him in new york. welcome. what made you want to spend time looking into the book and the bob dylan quotations? >> the first thing is that i am a bit of a dylan freak myself. so when i saw -- >> nerd, perhaps? >> i am a bit of a nerd. when i saw these things and -- considering the previous difficulties he had had with the plagiarism charges and other things that people had accused him of, taking a passage from malcolm gladwell, and i decided to read his book. i read the first chapter and stopped at the first chapter. i still haven't gotten beyond it, incidentally. the first chaptd was about bob dylan. a few smelled fishy. the sourcing was a bit off. so i looked. >> and when you first contacted layer er a lehrer he insisted the quotations were real and tried to convince you that there was nothing there? >> when first contacted he said he couldn't account for them because he was away from his notes. eventually he tells me that -- did concede that a few were franken quoted, hybridized, taken from here and here, different subjects to put together to make a "super quote." there were others, three couldn't be accounted for. two couldn't be accountsed for. that's when the -- accounted for. that's when the sort of deception began. >> whether but realize this was not just perhaps a case of sloppy not or inadvertent errors, but there was actual fabrication? when did you become convinced that there was real journalistic sin here? >> two things. i suspected very early. i realized about halfway through the process, and it was about a three, 3 1/2-week process when i was pointed toward sources that were very, very difficult to track own. this is three sources that i was given. all of which are very h