"I see some unhappy reporters." No doubt. They seem to be an unhappy lot regardless of what is going on.
"I wonder if the demand has been the same with this president as with the last one?" "What do you think? Is there a master list of how many interviews each has done or turned down?" As of September 2009, it was hard to keep the One from the media: During his first eight months in office, President Obama has sat down for three times as many television interviews as his most recent two predecessors combined. Obama is also out-hustling his predecessors with the print media, giving 36 interviews with newspapers and magazines during his first seven months in office -- nearly doubling the numbers given by Bush and Clinton. As of May 2010, things have changed somewhat: On Thursday, for the first time in 308 days, President Obama will confront the White House press corps in a full-blown news conference, taking the best shots that reporters have to offer on the topics of their choosing. Obama's lengthy absence from reporters' crosshairs has exceeded President George W. Bush's longest gap of 204 days. As president, Obama has held just four prime-time news conferences in the first 485 days of his term, but that is equal to the total number that his last three predecessors combined had held by the same point in their first terms. The Bushes had each held one; Bill Clinton, two. Obama, however, has stood for fewer news conferences in which reporters were free to ask him questions on the topic of their choosing. Adding up those four categories, Kumar finds this president, through May 20, has faced reporters questions on 280 occasions in the first 485 days of his term. That compares with 275 such instances for George W. Bush, 454 for President Clinton, and 198 for George H.W. Bush. While that total figure reflects almost exact parity between Obama and his immediate predecessor, a more detailed breakdown reveals a stark difference in the way the two men approached their interactions with reporters. Where George W. Bush held 186 brief Q&A's the daily bread and butter for the White House press corps, particularly wire service reporters and gave only 56 personal interviews, Obama has done almost exactly the opposite. He has held only 56 Q-and-As, and granted 188 personal interviews. So, it seems to indicate that Obama likes to be on the camera and answer personal questions, he goes out of way to avoid answer policy questions. And while it may interesting that he picked UNC to win the 2009 NCAA tournament, his knowledge of the Sestak allegations maybe more useful for the country. Regardless of the facts, people want to argue that this administration is more open than any before it. Sure, a few reporters may not be getting their way, but so what? Put it in perspective before taking this attitude. How do people know that the previous administration was so secretive? Who told the people it was secretive? The media. So, if one accepts that the media's word that the Bush administration was the most secretive administration of all time until the Obama administration passed it in lack of transparency, there is an egregious double standard. Now, Robert Gibbs is being accused of blasting the WH press corp for asking too many questions about the BP oil spill. I saw footage of Gibbs refusing to answer questions about the Sestak affair for at least four straight weeks. Finally, he responded this week by saying that the WH lawyers are working on a response (meaning they are trying to figure a way out of the big ass hole they have stepped in). I won't argue that this administration is more secretive than any other. I will argue that they are no more transparent than any other. It's just politics as normal. "The welfare of humanity is always the alibi of tyrants." - Albert Ca ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Order the Adobe Coldfusion Anthology now! http://www.amazon.com/Adobe-Coldfusion-Anthology-Michael-Dinowitz/dp/1430272155/?tag=houseoffusion Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/message.cfm/messageid:319687 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/unsubscribe.cfm
