Calling 'Em Out: The White House Takes on the Press

[kpete]

Source: TIME Magazine

Calling 'Em Out: The White House Takes on the Press
By Michael Scherer Thursday, Oct. 08, 2009
Obama aides say they can't rely on reporters to referee public debates.

There was never a single moment when White House staff decided the major media outlets were falling down on the job. There were instead several such moments.

For press secretary Robert Gibbs, the realization came in early September, when the New York Times ran a front-page story about the bubbling parental outrage over President Obama's plan to address schoolchildren — even though the benign contents of the speech were not yet public. "You had to be like, 'Wait a minute,'" says Gibbs. "This thing has become a three-ring circus." (See who's who in Barack Obama's White House.)

For deputy communications director Dan Pfeiffer, the more hyperbolic attacks on health-care reform this summer, which were often covered as a "controversy," flipped an internal switch. "When you are having a debate about whether or not you want to kill people's grandmother," he explains, "the normal rules of engagement don't apply."

And for his boss, Anita Dunn, the aha moment came when the Washington Post ran a second op-ed from a Republican politician decrying the "32" alleged czars appointed by the Obama Administration. Nine of those so-called czars, it turned out, were subject to Senate confirmation, making them decidedly unlike the Russian monarchs. "The idea — that the Washington Post didn't even question it," Dunn says, still marveling at the decision.



Read more: http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1929058,00.html

[Forkboy]

1. This is something I really like about this Administration.

They're not afraid to take on those spouting nonsense. Usually these kind of things are left to the surrogates to say, but this White House does it themselves, giving it even more weight.

:thumbsup:

[Demeter]

2. Took them long enough to catch on to the game--30 Years in the Running

Wankers. How about a little Reality check, guys?

[No Elephants]

4. They're counting only the Obama administration, I'm sure, or someone would

have mentioned the run up to the war in Iraq. I wish they had made that more clear, though.

[truebrit71]

3. About G-D time!

Where was all of this "scrutiny" in the last mis-administration?

[calimary]

22. Absolutely! About G-D time!!!!!

Just makes me wonder what took 'em so long.

[JHB]

5. I'm glad they're recognizing something that has been a problem...

...for what? A good 20+ years now? That it's not just a problem of the Clinton administration, or mistakes by this or that campaign.

[No Elephants]

6. Thanks to De-Regulating Ronnie, five corporations control most of the "news" that reaches us.

And who do you think controls each of those five mega-corporations?

I wish to God Buffet and Soros and a few other heavy hitters would chip in and start a media empire. We sure have enough talent in movies, TV, etc. to make it high quality.

[abq e streeter]

10. and sadly, Bill Clinton shares a lot of guilt for this ( media consolidation) too

[harmonicon]

15. I really don't think that's what's needed

We just need to bring back the fairness doctrine - that would fix this shit. Having two warring partisan machines would only make things more evenly ideologically divided, not provide the public with the actual informative information that they need.

[elocs]

7. They should not mince words and call a lie a LIE.

Enough with the euphemisms.

[gratuitous]

8. "Calling 'Em Out"?

I wonder why it has fallen to the Obama administration to name names and cite instances? Aren't journalists, those ink-stained bulldogs of the Fourth Estate, supposed to be self-policing? Anybody who gets too cozy with a source runs the risk of being called out by his or her fellow reporters? Anybody who gets too antagonistic is similarly taken aside by the (presumably) wiser and calmer heads?

Instead, it becomes a spectacle of "can you top this?" The news show that puts some red-faced incoherent on invite the next show to put somebody foaming at the mouth, and the next show has someone nearly overcome with apoplexy. Never mind that none of the commenters has a goddam thing to say that is based in relevancy or truth; it’s all just the spectacle of so many people out of their minds with outrage that (for example) the president is going to air a nationwide address to schoolchildren. Then, a month later, when the controversy has died down and everyone agrees that it was just another temper tantrum, Time magazine or the Washington Post or someone else finally says that it was ginned-up, manufactured ersatz outrage. And what a surprise that is! Until the next time, when the popular media outlets fall for the exact same trick again.

[lyonn]

9. Obama's new motto: "It's Us against Them"

In other words, no more Mr. Nice guy when it comes to the crazy talk from The Other Side. Finally....

We can only hope.

This was from the last paragraph in the article.

[NoodleyAppendage]

11. It's their own fault for not making reinstitution of the Fairness Doctrine the #1 priority.

Until you get equal time on the airwaves for issues this corporate-led media bullsh*t will continue. Just think how different the health care debate would be if Faux News were forced to cover an opposing viewpoint?

J

[SammyWinstonJack]

17. +1 nt

[Historic NY]

12. Its a duel to the death, but like a snake if you cut off its head it dies...

its about time they strike back and strike hard. Fox is manufactured news. We see a taste of some of the other press more often than not engaging in less than honest tactics.

[Uncle Joe]

13. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, kpete.:thumbsup:

[depakid]

14. Simple solution- deny the liars and the spinners access

You wouldn't want a lousy mechanic working on your car- so why would you want a lousy journo (or publication) working on your story?

[TxRider]

16. I'm sorry, but anyone who's been around should have seen those coming

Miles down the road...

It's not like the same attacks weren't used before about health care and a president speaking at schools.

Political reality is that your opponents will attack anything they can, and these were quite predictable.

I would say this is due more to inexperience or naivety or Obama's advisers. Not be ahead of this, or even laying traps for these kinds of attacks and springing them on the attackers.

[kpominville]

18. REGULATE THEM!

Its time to start enforcing existing laws like the Sherman Anti-Trust Act.

Break up the media monoliths!

[Igel]

19. That's a mistake.

Time's attitude certainly doesn't help.

The press doesn't have a job. It merely is. It is free, and it's freedom is not allowed or granted by the US government or the Constitution. It is not equal to the US government; the US government derives its right to exist from the Constitution, which derives its right from us. The press' right pre-exists the Constitution, the government, and the presidency. One of the jobs of the government and the presidency is to protect that right.

We can complain that Obama's squarely in the bull's eye of the press. I'd venture to say that most repubs considered that * was also squarely in the bull's eye. Is Obama more of a target than *? Dunno. Most reporters at major media outlets are dems, and there's no question that the first response when faced with a story isn't, "Does it serve our corporate owner's political bias?" but "Will it bring in more money?" You can't say that they're both mad with greed and cunning, political calculators for whom partisan trumps all.

Personally, I think most reporters have internalized the odd view of critical thinking that reigns here: Not that it's to provide a critique, an appraisal of pros and cons and consideration of alteratives, but that the goal of critical thinking is to be as critical as possible.

[Robyn66]

20. Then he needs to take control of the message

I don't think its the media that needs regulating. That is a dangerous road to go down. But the President's people need to get out there on every show and write for every paper and agressively shape what is going on. Bush managed to do it, Obama can too. I want to see someone on Fox and on every Sunday show that will beat the Rethugs down like a jackhammer. They have the truth on their side!

[TxRider]

21. Was this a response to that FOX news piece?

I understand they did some sort of insane documentary of lies last weekend.