Carrots and Sticks: Obama's split media strategy

Source: AP





Carrots and Sticks: Obama's split media strategy


By BEN FELLER, Associated Press Writer Ben Feller, Associated Press Writer – 2 hrs 18 mins ago

WASHINGTON – The same president who aggressively harnesses the power of the press to promote his agenda has taken to lacing his comments with criticisms of the media, with no bigger target than the gabby culture of cable television.

President Barack Obama's critique is biting: The media prefer conflict over cooperation, encourage bad behavior and weaken the ability of leaders to help the nation.

The White House's attempt to discredit Fox News as an arm of the Republican Party may have been getting the headlines, but it is only one recent window into Obama's already complex and crafty relationship with those who cover him.

All of Obama's frustration comes as he not only welcomes the ratings-mad media's constant demand for his presence, but also aggressively seeks maximum exposure to serve his own agenda

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091026/ap_on_en_ot/us_obama_and_the_media

"But even presidents who start with glowing press coverage always end up complaining about how they get beat up, said Martha Joynt Kumar, a political science professor at Towson University who studies White House communications.

"The press is there as a surrogate for the public, to ask the questions the public wants answers for," Kumar said. "Their job is not to stand there and provide him an opportunity to talk on any subject he wants."

The current incarnation isn't a surrogate for the public, they're only a surrogate for their corporate owners and corporate commercial buying clients.

To the corporate media; the public are only consumers or customers; to be sold a product, candidate or down the river. For that matter when a political leader most acutely champions the best interests of the public, the corporate media do their best to tear that leader or leader's message down.

Thanks for the thread, joeycola.