“I am who the media says I am.
I say what they say I say.
I become who they say I’ve become.”
-Barack Obama, The Audacity of Hope
The President’s public image has been the concern of every
administration since the invention of the camera. Abraham Lincoln was seen as
an uncivilized country lawyer upon his election. His photographer, Matthew
Brady, was regarded by Lincoln as the man who made him president. Images of
Lincoln with messy hair and meager attire soon became a refined and combed
gentleman with Brady’s crafting. Current public knowledge permits that Franklin
Roosevelt was a paraplegic since long before he took office, but only three
pictures of him in a wheelchair exist. As far as the public was concerned in
the 20 years after his death, Roosevelt was an able-bodied man and if any
pictures were taken of the contrary, cameras were confiscated by the Secret
Service. Lincoln and Roosevelt had carefully crafted images so as to be viewed
more favorably in the eyes of the public.
When Obama, much like Lincoln, was faced with considerable
scrutiny at the beginning of his first term, the Obama administration began a
synchronized campaign to craft a new image of the President in the eye of the
public. One of the methods used was emphasis on association with popular
culture, accomplished through dozens of photos where celebrities were pictured
with Obama. Pete Souza, the current White House photographer, was the first to
distribute images of the President via social media. With apps like Flickr,
Instagram, and Pinterest in its arsenal, the administration viewed independent
media as being no longer needed to represent its point of view to the public. Press
photographers were excluded from various events while Souza had unrestricted
access to the president.
In response, 38 news organizations, including the likes of
ABC News, CBS News, CNN, and NBC News signed a letter of protest to the White
House in response to Jay Carney for ignoring complaints of coverage and access.
A section of the letter reads:
“As surely as if they were placing a hand over the journalist’s camera lens, officials in this administration are blocking the public from having an independent view of important functions of the Executive Branch of government.”
The First Amendment defends “the public and press from
abridgment of their rights of access to information about the operation of
their government” which seems to be at odds with the policies of the White House.
Events to which independent media has been barred was due to the declaration of
the event being ‘private,’ only for the White House to post its own photos of
the event. Scrolling through the White House photo gallery, one can examine how
carefully created and symbolic each picture is. You can see the symbolism of
President Obama talking with Governor Mike Pence, with the nearby portrait of
Abraham Lincoln looking the other way, or the picture of Obama looking up at a
portrait of John Kennedy, who is in turn looking down on him. Each picture was carefully
crafted to project a certain image, agenda, or feeling, ultimately to better
the view of the President. Under Bush, or any other President, photos by White
House staff were used as carefully staged propaganda to heighten public opinion
of the highest office. Supposed violations of the First Amendment are certainly
always debatable to some degree, and Jay Carney defends his administration
saying every president has had meetings the media has not been allowed to
attend. Some argue that social media has eliminated the need for independent
media in some cases. The various media organizations counter Carney with they
have had the least access to the Obama administration compared to any other. Should independent media continue to be viewed
as obsolete with the integration and usefulness of social media, or should the
press be just as welcome at White House events as the White House’s own
photography staff?
2 comments:
In retrospect, this was very hard to write as unbiased as possible. What the Obama administration is doing with media access is inexcusable. Dozens of reporters and media organizations with a liberal bias have gone on the record saying they have had the least amount of access compared to any other administration. Sure the White House has the right to create its own perspective of the President but excluding independent media goes against the First Amendment, plain and simple.
The president does not have the same right to privacy as regular citizens. He is in every respect a public figure. His draconian crackdown on third party media coverage in order to control information is the very definition of propaganda.
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