It only took five years for the American media to get tired of President Obama’s spoon-fed propaganda — well, at least one aspect of it. Earlier this month, 38 news organizations, including the Associated Press, ABC News, The Washington Post, and Reuters demanded more photojournalist access to the president. The White House responded with what one reporter described as a middle finger. Now some news organizations are responding by formalizing policies not to publish White House-distributed photographs.
Last week the USA Today announced that it will not use “handout photos originating from the White House Press Office, except in very extraordinary circumstances.” The next day McClatchy joined the conditional boycott:
“The editors of McClatchy newspapers have agreed not to publish photography issued by the White House,” McClatchy Vice President for News/Washington Editor Anders Gyllenhaal told staffers in an email Tuesday night. The policy is not “a significant departure from current practices,” he says.
Both McClatchy and USA Today claim that these were their policies anyway, which makes one wonder what the point is.
For those of us outside the DC-Manhattan bubble, it is really quite incredible to watch the elite media crybaby in this way. Our media has extraordinary power, when they choose to use it. The problem is that, when it comes to this president, they rarely choose to use it.
No one respects their sycophants, which is why this White House is so comfortable ignoring, dismissing, and even ridiculing the mainstream media.
This whole brouhaha surrounding photojournalist access is a perfect example. Nothing changes and what happens? The White House receives a strongly worded internal policy affirmation.
If the media want some respect from this White House, they need to start doing something as simple as their jobs. But the White House knows that no matter how shabbily they treat the media, the media will still carry their water. For example, the ObamaCare cover ups continue to this day. Sure, the media is covering the smoking guns as they become too obvious to ignore, but they still refuse to warn the public that millions more insurance cancellations are coming.
The media’s laughable and humiliating impotence will continue until they man up and stop running point for Obama’s agenda.
Personally, I don’t believe the media’s protests about a lack of photojournalist access have anything to do with journalistic integrity. I think the media’s upset because they can’t get close to their sun king.
Follow John Nolte on Twitter @NolteNC
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