White House: We Want Non-Traditional Media To Have Seat At Table

[babylonsister]

http://theplumline.whorunsgov.com/political-media/white-house-we-want-non-traditional-media-to-have-seat-at-table/

White House: We Want Non-Traditional Media To Have Seat At Table


I asked a White House aide to explain the surprising and much-discussed decision by President Obama to take a question from The Huffington Post at his presser last night.

“One of the ways to change Washington is to open it up and make it more accessible by ensuring that outlets that aren’t considered part of the traditional media get opportunities to participate,” the aide told me. “And that’s exactly what the President did last night.”

This has a boilerplate feel, but it becomes more interesting when you consider the broader context here. As I noted yesterday, senior Obama aides David Axelrod and Robert Gibbs have embarked on a purposeful strategy of reclaiming Obama’s outsider mantle by using cable news and the Beltway media as a foil, hammering them as out of touch with real Americans.

In that context, this White House aide seems to be suggesting that the Obama team may believe letting non-traditional outlets participate will help loosen the stranglehold on our discourse the big news orgs have enjoyed for so long. This pledge won’t have much meaning, of course, until we see what happens in practice. Still, it’s worth reiterating: Yesterday Obama took a question from HuffPo but didn’t take one from The Wall Street Journal, the Chicago Tribune, Time, or Newsweek.

[firedupdem]

1. That kinda messes up their "theme of the day" style of journalism. n/t

[Jennicut]

2. Damn right alternative media needs a seat at the table. I don't trust the MSM.

Do any of you?

[anonymous171]

4. Hell no. nt

[Downtown Hound]

16. I agree, but be careful

As goes the old saying, "Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer." One of the ways the government was able to finally seduce the MSM was by granting them "access." You only get "access" if you're on the team and willing to play ball. Maybe I'm being a little alarmist, I do trust Obama overall, and I'm glad the the alternative media has become the force that it has to where the White House wants to include them.

But there's a part of me that wants the relationship to never get too close. The fact that alternative media is shut out and on their own as opposed to embedded like the corporate media is what makes the alternative media so much better.

[anonymous171]

3. Now THAT is a good media strategy. Very clever and original.nt

[nc4bo]

5. Absolutely, positively music to my M$M busted eardrums!!!

How exciting AND progressive!!

[ananda]

6. Would that include Bill Moyers and Amy Goodman.

They're the only journalists I can
think of right now that I respect.

[bdamomma]

7. both of them would be great.

[ErinBerin84]

8. I loved

Moyers pointing out how Amy Goodman doesn't appear on MTP panels, while people from the Christian Broadcasting Network do, on last Friday's show.

[genna]

15. If Moyers or Goodman get a press pass, they will ask him questions

that he may or may not be prepared to answer.


I look forward to seeing the center being brought to these journalists especially when they challenge the assumptions and the wrongheadedness of the MSM.

No internet reporter has the depth and longevity that Moyers and Goodman have.

[bluestateguy]

9. As long as it's our non-traditional media, and not "their" non-traditional media

So who will DU's reporter be?

[Retrograde]

10. translation: "We realize this is the 21st century"

A lot of people get their news primarily on-line these days. It's good to see them changing with the times.

[babylonsister]

14. Yes! And I loved how KO made a fool out of Ari Fleisher! nt

[rollingrock]

11. The media monopoly needs to be broken up

Bring back the media ownership regulations that were eliminated under the Telecommunication Act of 1996.

[City Lights]

12. A nice punch in the mouth to the corporate whore media.

:applause:

Nicely done!

[FrenchieCat]

13. Cable Chatter! Cable Chatter! Teehee! LOL!

They can kiss my ass!

Newsweek is owned by the same folks that own MSNBC, NBC, etc...., so they got to ask a question.
Times is owned by the same folks who own CNN, so they got to ask a question.
WSJ is owned by the same folks who own Fox, so they got to ask a question.

[Colobo]

17. Wondeful. Obama is showing signs of greatness.

[Cha]

18. Ariana should have

been thrilled it was Sam Stein who had an excellent question and seemed like one of the most relaxed..and Rude Pundit now wants to try for some White House Creditials:P

[Cha]

19. And, I would hope so! Afterall,

the netroots made a huge difference in the campaign~ What if there were only corporatemedia to get the news from?

Exactly.