Howard Kurtz

Howard Kurtz is the host of CNN's Reliable Sources, the network's long-running media analysis show, and is Washington bureau chief of Newsweek and The Daily Beast.

After a 29-year career as a reporter and columnist at The Washington Post, Kurtz has expanded his portfolio to include political analysis, investigative reporting, and blogging. He even finds time to entertain his 85,000 Twitter followers.

Kurtz is the author of five books including Reality Show, a behind-the-scenes look at the network newscasts, and Spin Cycle, his best-selling examination of the Clinton White House scandals.

On his CNN program he has sparred with the likes of Jon Stewart, Whoopi Goldberg, George Clooney, Barbara Walters, Ted Koppel, Brian Williams, Diane Sawyer, Jim Lehrer, Keith Olbermann, Jimmy Carter, and John McCain. He has also written for such magazines as Vanity Fair, Playboy, and New York.

Kurtz can address such topics as the 2012 presidential campaign; the rise of the new media, including Facebook and Twitter; the shrinking role of newspapers and network television; the cable-driven polarization of the political world; how a tabloid celebrity culture infiltrated even the most serious news organizations; the White House and the press; and, in general, the role of media coverage in campaigns, sports, and entertainment.