Another brave man-Press Sec'y Tony Snow Continues to Challenge Media Coverage
Bill Sammon, The Examiner, May 12, 2006
WASHINGTON - New White House Press Secretary Tony Snow on Thursday accused the Associated Press and Washington Post of unfair coverage of President Bush.
Since starting his job Monday, Snow has challenged five major news outlets in a clear signal that he will be more aggressive than his mild-mannered predecessor, Scott McClellan.
“CBS News misleadingly reports that only 8 million seniors have signed up for Medicare prescription drug coverage,” Snow said. “But 37 million seniors have coverage.”
Reporter Axelrod of CBS suggested he was the victim of “selective editing on the part of the White House to make their own political points.” “I am always open to criticism,” he added, “but if the White House has a point to make, perhaps they should furnish the full and proper context.”
Until this week, Bush administration officials rarely issued detailed rebuttals of articles they considered unfair. But Snow, who is expected to give his first public briefing Monday, has taken a more active stance.
This week he has hit back at The New York Times and USA Today. On Thursday, he criticized the AP for a story headlined: “Army Guard, Reserve fall short of April recruiting goals.”
The White House countered: “The Army National Guard, Air Force Reserve, and Marine Corps Reserve all have exceeded or achieved their year-to-date recruitment goals.”
The White House also pointed out that the Washington Post ran an editorial calling Bush’s tax cuts “a windfall for the rich” on Thursday, the same day the paper also published a news article saying the measure would benefit the “middle class.”
Although Snow believes that no unfair coverage should go unchallenged, he also appears determined to make administration officials more accessible to the press. |
