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Veteran Washington reporter Bob Schieffer of CBS News said on Monday’s evening broadcast that he thinks it is beneficial to have some good cheer between the media and government officials, especially since the atmosphere in Washington has become so rancid in recent years. He has a good point. Instead of letting one’s hair down, however, the W.H. dinners have become a mixture of a grand social occasion, a chance of Hollywood actors to see the “inside” of what Washington is like and, in general, for reporters to act like celebrities themselves by inviting movie stars, singers and Olympic medal winners. Putting video clips on television makes it all the more complicated.
My view is that these events confuse an already confused public about what the role of the media are in DC. They make it look like reporters and editors are constantly paling around with those they cover. That, however, is one purpose of the whole thing: it is a chance for the media to reflect in the glory of the people they cover and those people to reflect in the media glory, too.
Some reporters are so well known and such fixtures on the Washington scene that they play the Washington social game themselves. They do, in fact, pal around. Most, however, do not. Most do their difficult jobs, get on the subway or in their car and go home at night to rather ordinary lives. They are not in the same social circles as the very powerful. Giving the country the idea that Washington is one big party, one big laughfest where everyone makes fun of themselves and the big decisions they face is very misleading.
As far as I know, there are no reporters, editors or producers who are friends on any level with President Obama**. Some presidents, like John Kennedy, made it a minor point to develop social relations with a very few reporters and Kennedy was close to fellow Harvard alum Ben Bradley who was then with Newsweek. Some presidents have used powerful newspaper columnists to get out stories they want (LBJ, FDR and others). Presidents have, on rare occasions, used reporters as sounding boards (Kennedy used Hugh Sidey of Time in this manner in regard to whether the Soviets had a suitcase, nuclear weapon in the capital ((Sidey sat mute and later wrote he had no information and was dumbfounded that Kennedy thought he might.)). G.W. Bush called in NBC foreign correspondent Richard Engel to talk about the Iraq war.) The “high level” contacts between presidents and journalists are rare, although most recent presidents have had private “get acquainted” meetings with network anchors and news executives near the start of their administrations.
Some reporters have known news sources for years, having covered them at the state level or as junior members of the House. Still, most don’t go to social occasions and don’t think of themselves as close friends with the powerful, with some exceptions. The job of a reporter is to seek and report the truth, even if it clashes with personal loyalties. Events like the White House Correspondent’s dinner make it look otherwise.
Reporters, editors, producers and others are more likely to socialize with each other and their neighbors than they are with “Washington big-wigs”. Access to power is everything for a Washington reporter, so all are subject to being used by news sources who might, on rare occasion, call them in to drop a news item in their laps. These kinds of drops have often had bad results, as reporters wind up spreading a version of “truth” that only holds together for the source. Since the rather disastrous run up to the war in Iraq, during which insufficient examination of the claims of WMD took place, considerable effort has been expended to try to avoid these “buddy-buddy” type news arrangements. The public impression of events like the White House and Congressional Correspondent’s dinners, however, is that it is all one big party, we are all good friends and let’s laugh about the problems of the world that come through Washington but don’t touch the lives of those who live here.
Doug Terry, 5.6.14 (with additions and corrections)
Link to the White House Correspondent’s Association: http://www.whca.net/index.htm
**Obama was said to have established as a rule for himself when he was first running for president: no new friends. Such a commitment carries a lot of embedded ironies, because making new friends while running for president is almost impossible anyway, since the candidate would have great difficulty judging the sincerity of the person as a “friend” in the first place. Celebrities of all sorts have this same difficulty. Just about everyone wants to be close, but who is prepared for the give and take of actual friendship, versus the mere take of association? Besides, the presidential candidate is flying all over the country in a big commercial size jet with aides constantly around him. Who could be friends in that situation?
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