Politico asks: "Why doesn't Nico Pitney just write a loaded headline that ends with a question-mark instead of doing all that reporting?"

In a major article, Politico has accused Huffington Post reporter Nico Pitney of "showing off" with his coverage of the Iran protests. Pico has been running Huffington Post's live coverage of the situation in Iran since it erupted - collating materials from a host of sources, sifting through hundreds of emails, Twitter feeds, YouTube videos and even soliciting Iranians to forward him a question to ask the President of the United States during Tuesday's press conference.

However, following the press conference, the online journal Politico accused Pitney of "trying to be a smart-ass" with his Iran coverage and asked "Why does he have to do all that real reporting? Why can't he just do what we at Politico do: take things that make Democrats look bad and turn them into snappy headlines by adding a question mark at the end?"

Nico Pitney (center)

Politico then cited several examples of its "superior reporting" in an attempt to teach Pitney "real" journalism: "For example 'Is Obama going too far?' or 'Is Obama not going too far enough?' - those would have been great headlines. Or what about 'Is Pelosi becoming gay?' Obviously she is not, but we never say that she is. That is the beauty of our clever Politico headlines. 'A Republican Comeback?' Just wait and see who gets a Pulitzer, us or that Pitney guy."

Read Politico's story here (which is billed on the main page as "Did Obama work with Huff Post?"). Enjoy the comments section to fully understand the audience Politico is aiming for.