Are the Republican candidates going to insist on more mainstream journalism?

Hugh Hewitt: Now I want to go back to politics and media, Governor Romney. Chris Matthews, you might be the only guy who liked his performance last night. The Catholic bishops question was just off the wall, and the Karl Rove reference to Jim Gilmore, are the Republican candidates going to insist on you know, a little more mainstream journalism down the road?

Governor Mitt Romney: Well, you know, it takes a lot of people to come together to make the calls on that, and there are some rules that I’d like to put in place for the upcoming debates, but I’m just one out of ten guys, and will probably have no more sway than anybody else. It really comes down to the networks, and what they think is best. I do admit, I thought some of the questions were really unusual, particularly the ones that came from Politico, the one question that said what do you do about single moms, I think, was a question, that are in jail and they have children at home. It’s like gosh, you know, for guys that want to be able to talk about the jihad and getting our economy going and fixing our schools, that’s kind of a narrow question.

Mitt Romney a day after winning the GOP presidential debate

Gov. Romney on ABC's Iran Story

"First of all, I woke up this morning, and I was shocked to see the ABC News report regarding covert action in Iran. I was not shocked because of the covert action. I was shocked because a news organization with such a renowned reputation as ABC News would deem it appropriate to publish information about a covert action existing, and publish that not only to America but to the entire world. The reporting has the potential of jeopardizing our national security. Stated quite plainly, it has the potential of affecting human life. We may never know.

"As you know, Iran is developing a nuclear bomb. Iran sponsors terrorist groups like Hezbollah and Hamas. Iran's President has denied the Holocaust. Its leadership has incited to genocide. Its leadership has suggested the use of nuclear weapons. In fact, the spread of nuclear terror – nuclear proliferation – is certainly the most threatening of all the prospects on the planet today. And Iran is the most noted perpetrator of this nuclear proliferation. And Iran is supplying weapons and expertise that kill American soldiers in Iraq.

"And with all those things in mind and despite those factors, ABC News published classified information that warns Iran and that has the potential of putting Americans at risk. Now no one wants in a country like ours any form of censorship, but the media has a responsibility to police itself. And in the last little while, we've seen two examples of a failure in this responsibility. One by The New York Times with regards to reporting on the electronic eavesdropping on potential terrorists and the other is this report by ABC News. Responsible policing I just don't think happened on their part. Responsible policy-making happened on their part.

"And I think it's important to recognize that we have a global war on terror which continues. It's a global war against violent jihad. We've seen six years of this. It's not about to disappear anytime soon. With that in mind, I think it's time for leadership in the media to consider and adopt voluntary rules of responsible reporting with regards to matters of national security. Of course, we have a First Amendment which we cherish and value. It provides for freedom of the press but with this freedom goes the responsibility of the press. I'm not looking, as I said, for government censorship. I'm looking for corporate responsibility."

Mitt Romney Calls Out Media Bias

Reporter: With so much unknown, economically, when it comes to Commonwealth woes, with the dollar amount on the Big Dig repairs, and anything that's found in this, stem to stern, that you...unknown, with outside agencies saying that almost every transportation agency in the state is facing a budget deficit, and with your own transportation finance commission recommending keeping the western tolls in place, among a number of different options, why then is the administration foregoing possible revenue, and actually adding to the transportation burden that the Commonwealth, outside of...

MR: Do you have a point of view on this?

Reporter: Well, I represent a number of people, Governor.

MR: No, I represent the people. You're supposed to be unbiased.

Media Questions for Mitt Romney

1. Katherine Jean Lopez
1. Does the mainstream media have double standards for Republicans?
2. Mary Katharine Ham
1. What was your worst moments with the MSM?
3. Governor Mitt Romney
1. Are the Republican candidates going to insist on more mainstream journalism?