White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki speaks during a news briefing at the James Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House February 25, 2021 in Washington, DC. Psaki held a news briefing to answer questions from the members of the press. (Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images)
With Biden's Jen Psaki at the Podium, Corporate Outlets No Longer Think Briefings Newsworthy
Obama briefings? Not news. Trump briefings? Always news. Biden briefings? Not news again.
Nowadays, corporate media would have you believe they are appalled by Donald Trump: He's a liar and a cheat who distorted our democracy and was rotten to the press. I mean, they had to cover him because he was president, but they held their nose the whole time, and now they can't wait to get back to serious reporting on policy.
The only trouble is, if you have a memory longer than a minute, you'll recall that CBS head Les Moonves (Extra!, 4/16) declared flatly that the ad money and ratings Trump brought the network mattered much more than any harm giving him a platform might incur. "It's a terrible thing to say. But bring it on, Donald. Keep going." Or maybe you remember the time that CNN, Fox and MSNBC (FAIR.org, 3/16/16) all aired an empty podium where Trump was scheduled to speak instead of Bernie Sanders actually speaking.
Or maybe you're just paying attention. As Press Run critic Eric Boehlert (2/22/21) noted recently, just a month into Joe Biden's term, CNN has unceremoniously stopped airing daily White House press briefings. They didn't cover Barack Obama's much; in the last six months of his presidency, just 3% of daily briefings aired live (Media Matters, 5/30/17). But in early 2017, the DC press corps collectively decided that every Trump utterance had to be broadcast live, even if the briefings were "built on deceits [and] designed to foil honest inquiries," as Boehlert said. Even if he was telling folks to inject themselves with bleach or accusing hospital workers of stealing PPE.
After one freakish display, CNN anchor John King (4/13/20) declared, "That was propaganda aired at taxpayer expense in the White House briefing room." But the network just kept on airing them.
So the upshot: Obama briefings? Not news. Trump briefings? Always news. Biden briefings? Not news again.
Whatever you make of the fact that a news network's rule of "Everybody stop what you're doing, the White House is about to make a statement!" only seemed to hold when they could expect that statement to be akin to a flaming car wreck...just remember that those are the "journalistic" criteria they're working with all the time.
We are at a crossroads
This country and this world are at a monumental crossroads. In a few short weeks, US voters will have an opportunity to beat back the forces of fascism and confront the billionaires who are rigging the economy, our media system, and our democracy, making it increasingly impossible for ordinary people to get by. We’re not just talking about the election. We’re talking about what must be done once these fascist elements are vanquished from power. We need a bolder set of solutions than what either major party has so far been willing to offer and a working-class movement ready to fight like hell for it. Trump didn't emerge from nowhere. The conditions that fueled MAGA authoritarianism were created by decades of radical neoliberal economic policies and a corrupt political system dominated by corporate interests. They slashed taxes on the super-rich, promising that the benefits would trickle down. They said giveaways to the corporate titans would make life more affordable for the rest of us. It was all bullshit. And when a bitter, betrayed populace searches for someone to blame, right-wing demagogues have little trouble finding scapegoats. People know when they're being lied to, but you won't hear any of this from the corporate media. Only independent journalism—powered and funded by people who believe in building a better world—can deliver truly trustworthy daily news. Our Fall Campaign is underway, and we need your help. To power our newsroom through the rest of the year, we need to raise $125,000 by midnight on October 31. So if you share our vision, please contribute whatever you can to sustain our work. |
Nowadays, corporate media would have you believe they are appalled by Donald Trump: He's a liar and a cheat who distorted our democracy and was rotten to the press. I mean, they had to cover him because he was president, but they held their nose the whole time, and now they can't wait to get back to serious reporting on policy.
The only trouble is, if you have a memory longer than a minute, you'll recall that CBS head Les Moonves (Extra!, 4/16) declared flatly that the ad money and ratings Trump brought the network mattered much more than any harm giving him a platform might incur. "It's a terrible thing to say. But bring it on, Donald. Keep going." Or maybe you remember the time that CNN, Fox and MSNBC (FAIR.org, 3/16/16) all aired an empty podium where Trump was scheduled to speak instead of Bernie Sanders actually speaking.
Or maybe you're just paying attention. As Press Run critic Eric Boehlert (2/22/21) noted recently, just a month into Joe Biden's term, CNN has unceremoniously stopped airing daily White House press briefings. They didn't cover Barack Obama's much; in the last six months of his presidency, just 3% of daily briefings aired live (Media Matters, 5/30/17). But in early 2017, the DC press corps collectively decided that every Trump utterance had to be broadcast live, even if the briefings were "built on deceits [and] designed to foil honest inquiries," as Boehlert said. Even if he was telling folks to inject themselves with bleach or accusing hospital workers of stealing PPE.
After one freakish display, CNN anchor John King (4/13/20) declared, "That was propaganda aired at taxpayer expense in the White House briefing room." But the network just kept on airing them.
So the upshot: Obama briefings? Not news. Trump briefings? Always news. Biden briefings? Not news again.
Whatever you make of the fact that a news network's rule of "Everybody stop what you're doing, the White House is about to make a statement!" only seemed to hold when they could expect that statement to be akin to a flaming car wreck...just remember that those are the "journalistic" criteria they're working with all the time.
Nowadays, corporate media would have you believe they are appalled by Donald Trump: He's a liar and a cheat who distorted our democracy and was rotten to the press. I mean, they had to cover him because he was president, but they held their nose the whole time, and now they can't wait to get back to serious reporting on policy.
The only trouble is, if you have a memory longer than a minute, you'll recall that CBS head Les Moonves (Extra!, 4/16) declared flatly that the ad money and ratings Trump brought the network mattered much more than any harm giving him a platform might incur. "It's a terrible thing to say. But bring it on, Donald. Keep going." Or maybe you remember the time that CNN, Fox and MSNBC (FAIR.org, 3/16/16) all aired an empty podium where Trump was scheduled to speak instead of Bernie Sanders actually speaking.
Or maybe you're just paying attention. As Press Run critic Eric Boehlert (2/22/21) noted recently, just a month into Joe Biden's term, CNN has unceremoniously stopped airing daily White House press briefings. They didn't cover Barack Obama's much; in the last six months of his presidency, just 3% of daily briefings aired live (Media Matters, 5/30/17). But in early 2017, the DC press corps collectively decided that every Trump utterance had to be broadcast live, even if the briefings were "built on deceits [and] designed to foil honest inquiries," as Boehlert said. Even if he was telling folks to inject themselves with bleach or accusing hospital workers of stealing PPE.
After one freakish display, CNN anchor John King (4/13/20) declared, "That was propaganda aired at taxpayer expense in the White House briefing room." But the network just kept on airing them.
So the upshot: Obama briefings? Not news. Trump briefings? Always news. Biden briefings? Not news again.
Whatever you make of the fact that a news network's rule of "Everybody stop what you're doing, the White House is about to make a statement!" only seemed to hold when they could expect that statement to be akin to a flaming car wreck...just remember that those are the "journalistic" criteria they're working with all the time.