The media was tougher in its questioning of President Barack Obama at Tuesday night’s press conference than it was at his first, according to the scorecard of media columnist Howard Kurtz of the Washington Post.

Kurtz noted that Obama hasn’t taken a question from the  Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune, the Wall Street Journal or USA Today at either of his press conferences — and skipped the Washington Post and the New York Times on Tuesday night.

Kurtz writes in his Media Notes column on WashingtonPost.com:

Obama’s selection process last night did not result in softball inquiries. Ebony’s Kevin Chappell cited a report that one in 50 children in the United States is homeless and asked what Obama would say to their families. Kevin Baron of Stars and Stripes, a military newspaper, asked how the president would trim the Pentagon and Department of Veterans Affairs budgets “when so many items that seem destined for the chopping block are politically untenable, perhaps.”

Later, Kurtz writes:

Jennifer Loven of the Associated Press, the wire service that traditionally gets to pose the opening question, cited the administration’s plan to seek authority over non-banking financial institutions and asked, “Why should the public trust the government to handle that authority well?” NBC’s Chuck Todd said that “some of your programs, whether for Main Street or Wall Street, have actually cushioned the blow for those that were irresponsible.” CBS’s Chip Reid said that “some Republicans called your budget, with all the spending on health care, education and environment, the most irresponsible budget in American history.” CNN’s Ed Henry asked Obama whether he worried “that your daughters, not to mention the next president, will be inheriting an even bigger fiscal mess if the spending goes out of control.”

Perhaps the sharpest exchange followed Henry’s second question, when he pressed Obama on why it took days for him to publicly express outrage over the $165 million in bonuses granted to employees of American International Group.

“It took us a couple of days because I like to know what I’m talking about before I speak,” the president shot back.

Jon Ward of the Washington Times, whose conservative editorial page has consistently criticized Obama, asked about the president’s decision to allow federal funding of embryonic stem cell research, a subject that quickly faded from the mainstream media despite years of divisive debate. Ward asked “how much you personally wrestled with the morality or ethics of federally funding this kind of research.” The president said it had been a difficult decision.

Fox’s Major Garrett asked whether Obama, who as a candidate expressed concern about the nation’s global image, was comfortable with objections to his economic policies by the Chinese government, “run by communists,” and European governments, “some of them socialist.”

CBS News — in its Political Hotsheet — noted a wide range of media views on how Obama did:

The fourth estate is today offering divergent views about Mr. Obama’s style, substance and how convincing he was.

The New York Times and Associated Press saw an academic president who described his plans with competence and intellectual distance. AP used the line “Calm. Cool. Careful,” while the Times said that Mr. Obama “showed his usual comfort with a wide array of subjects” but acted “placid and unsmiling,” like a university lecturer…

…According to Politico, the president answered questions at length but he didn’t say much. Politico used the word “whatever” to describe Mr. Obama’s insistence that he would stick to his budget and not allow Republicans or moderate Democrats to dissuade the legislature from passing it.

And there’s debate over Matt Drudge’s assessment that the press conference was boring.