Gamesmanship: Obama and the Mainstream Media

There was a strange echo of disdain in both the NY Times and Tribune accounts of the President's news conference Tuesday. For straight news stories -- neither was labeled as a news analysis -- they both strayed into something akin to a theater review.

Both articles led not with what Obama said during the news conference, but how he said it.

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Reporters for both papers characterized the President's demeanor as pedantic, with the churlish NY Times going so far as to liken Obama to a professor boring his class into a trance.

Rarely do White House correspondents seem so preoccupied with a President's mood. And rarely do they report on Presidential news conferences as if they were dramatic monologues delivered in an acting class.

But rarely, if ever, has a President dealt with the mainstream media at a news conference as Obama did Tuesday, when he conscpicuously catered to specialized outlets and took fewer questions from their "establishment" counterparts. And I can't help but wonder if there is a connection here -- if somehow the harsh tenor of the Times and Tribune stories reflected a wounded mainstream media intent on returning a slight.

After all, media relations is to some extent a power dynamic. The media has the power to determine the news the public consumes. Sources have the power to determine which media outlets have access to the news. Both parties can use their power to groom relationships or to express a grievance.

For instance, if you're releasing news and you give one media outlet an opportunity to cover the story in advance, don't be surprised if a chief competitor ignores the story altogether. Still, that strategy may be worth it, if the outlet you favored rewards you in return by granting the story better placement.

Likewise, if a reporter lacks interest in your material or exhibits a bias against it, don't hesitate to consider how you can use access to either cultivate a better relationship with her, or minimize her opportunity to do you harm.

(Photo via Doug's Travel Blog)