Page 124 - Historical Dictionary of Political Communication in the United States

CONFERENCES
PRESIDENTIAL NEWS
to
tion—as well as a host of other elements such as using public opinion polls 113
determine executive policy and presidential statements, controlling journalist
accreditation, using satellite technology, and providing prepackaged audio and
visual material to local stations.
There is, of course, mutual dependency at work here. The media need the
president, and the president needs the media. The president is dependent on the
media to get his policy across to the public, to present his relationship with
Congress, and to establish himself in the eyes of the public as a satisfactory
leader. From the media's point of view, the president is the most newsworthy
individual in the country. Coverage of the president, his policy, and his admin-
istration is essential to the perceived quality of the media product. There is a
symbiotic relationship between the president and the media, and each uses the
relationship to extract maximum advantage.
SOURCES: Congressional Quarterly, The President, the Public and the Press, 1997;
John Anthony Maltse, Spin Control: The White House Office of Communications and
the Management of Presidential News, 1992.
Pamela J. Shoemaker and Michael J. Breen

PRESIDENTIAL NEWS CONFERENCES have been a key element in pres-
idential media manipulation. They are called at the president's request alone,
and the interval between conferences is purely a matter of the president's dis-
cretion. Presidents frequently open a news conference with an announcement,
thus setting the agenda for the news conference and diverting attention from
matters less favorable. However, in recent years, the news conference has fallen
out of favor and become infrequent.
William Howard Taft was the first president to hold news conferences, but
he aborted them after an unfortunate session. Woodrow Wilson resumed them,
but he, too, abandoned them. Presidents Warren Harding, Calvin Coolidge, and
Herbert Hoover continued them, but Franklin D. Roosevelt made them signifi-
cant political communication. He had 998 news conferences, an average of 83
a year. Harry S Truman had half that many, and Dwight Eisenhower, John F.
Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, and Jimmy Carter all had about two dozen a year.
Richard Nixon averaged 7 a year and Gerald Ford 16. Ronald Reagan set the
pattern for the years ahead, averaging only 6 a year, a number that was not
equaled by either George Bush or Bill Clinton.
One reason for the decline was that scheduled televised news conferences are
likely to draw 500 journalists, some of whom seem to be there to be seen more
than for any other reason. That is obviously too many people to engage in a
meaningful dialogue, and recent presidents have turned over much of the re-
sponsibility for meeting the press to the White House director of communication
or the press secretary.
SOURCES: Michael Emery and Edwin Emery, The Press and America, eighth edition,
1996; John Tebbel and Sarah Miles Watts, The Press and the Presidency, 1985.
Guido H. Stempel III