I think they should move the Press Corps out of the WH to a location across the street.
National editor, The Washingtonian
Among the Election Losers: White House Press Corps?
President Bush’s surprise news conference on Thursday had the feel of a coach basking in the winner’s locker room after his team demolished the competition. The President’s team vanquished two opponents on Tuesday: the Democrats and the mainstream press.
Bush was relaxed and jocular. He called reporters by their nicknames, joked about his ability to “mangle the English language,” called speculation about his new Cabinet members “a great Washington sport.”
Bush was feeling good at his news conference in part because his administration—more than any other—has the Washington press corps in a hammerlock.
“They have a remarkable ability to control the message,” says Knight Ridder’s Ron Hutcheson, president of the White House Correspondents’ Association. “After this election, it will be even harder than ever. They don’t need us any more.”
Los Angeles Times reporter Ed Chen expects “at least the same degree of lack of access or more so. The President today made overtures to the press. We will see.”
Says a veteran newspaper reporter: “They believe their theory is correct: You can get the message out without catering to the mainstream press. They also feel the Washington press was pulling for Kerry. They will make it harder for us to do our job in the second term. They don’t like us.”
Because lots of the nation’s big newspapers endorsed John Kerry? Or because studies showed Kerry got more and better coverage in the broadcast media? Or because reporters ask questions that Bush officials do not want to answer?
It is well established that the Bush team in its first four years controlled the flow of information to the press with military precision, better than any White House in memory. There were few if any leaks. Nuggets of news that escaped mostly were deliberate. Administration officials established the ground rules of every interview and controlled the terms of each engagement.
“Even within the White House information was very closely held,” says a reporter who covered Bush’s first term. Covering this White House was “nigh on impossible,” she says.
Can it get harder?
A president who already holds the record for calling the fewest solo news conferences might convene even fewer.
Some reporters wonder if the Bush team will attempt to kill off the daily briefing.
There are rumors that Bush wants to carry out Hillary Rodham Clinton’s threat to move the press room out of the West Wing.
“Strictly rumor,” says Ron Hutcheson. “I haven’t heard anything official. It’s a scary thought.”
Putting the fear factor aside, a few White House veterans say that discipline often breaks down in the second term. New senior officials move in; the ones who leave might begin to talk more.
“I think it gets harder and harder to control news as time goes on,” says one print reporter.
Control did break down a bit in the first term only when reporters forced the White House to respond to news that came from outside sources. Intelligence failures in assessing Iraq’s ability to make war exposed unflattering debates within the Bush inner sanctum, for instance.
“It tells you that you have to report on this White House from the outside,” says a reporter who covers national security. “It can’t be done sitting in the pressroom.”
There are reporters who hope they will have greater access to a more relaxed president who likely will become more interested in his legacy.
“I don’t think the President will want his legacy to be one of a closed shop,” says Carl Cannon, who covers the White House for National Journal. He points to comments by communications director Dan Bartlett, who promised to make senior officials more available to reporters.
Knight Ridder’s Hutcheson hopes that political jockeying for the 2008 nomination will create “fissures” in the White House armor.
The armor seemed to be temporarily off when Bush spoke to reporters on Thursday. For a few minutes, it was as if they were all in it together.
“I look forward to working with you,” the President said. “How many are going to be here for the second term?”
There will be new faces. The Washington Post will field Jim VandeHei and Peter Baker, who covered the Clinton White House.
The Los Angeles Times will put Peter Wallsten and Warren Vieth on the beat.
The New York Times will maintain its crew of David Sanger, Richard Stevenson, and Elisabeth Bumiller.
Ron Hutcheson will be one of the veterans. As head of the White House Correspondents’ Association, he says one of his first tasks will be to find out from press secretary Scott McLellan if there’s any substance to rumors that the press will have to vacate its White House quarters: “If he calls me back.”
—HARRY JAFFE
hjaffe@washingtonian.com
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