Bruce Springsteen is a Maureen Dowd fan. (Hat tip: BenJeremy.)

NEW YORK — On the eve of the Vote for Change tour, which has sparked controversy in newsrooms where reporters have been ordered not to attend the pro-Kerry fundraisers, Bruce Springsteen, one of the stars of the concerts, has a few words for the press.

In a wide ranging interview in the just-published Oct. 14 issue of Rolling Stone, Springsteen says, “The press has let the country down. It’s taken a very amoral stand, in that essential issues are often portrayed as simply one side says this and the other side says that….The job of the press is to tell the truth without fear or favor. We have to get back to that standard.”

Most of his criticism, however, is aimed at TV coverage, and he reveals that as “a dedicated” New York Times reader he has gained “enormous sustenance” from columnists Maureen Dowd and Paul Krugman.