Media Whines About Biden's Press Availability

 

The whining has reached the editorial page of the Washington Post : 

WHITE HOUSE press secretary Jen Psaki said Friday that President Biden would hold a news conference “before the end of the month.” Last month would have been better, and this week would be better than next. Avoiding news conferences must not become a regular habit for Mr. Biden. He is the president, and Americans have every right to expect that he will regularly submit himself to substantial questioning.  [snip]

But each of his 15 most recent predecessors, including Mr. Trump, held a full news conference within their first 33 days in office. Mr. Biden has been in office for 46 days. It was only after journalists’ complaints became increasingly loud — and following a wave of bad press — that Ms. Psaki announced Friday that the president would appear for an extended, unaccompanied question-and-answer session with reporters.

Could it be -- just maybe -- that he's been too busy getting things done and undoing the damage left by the former guy?  Like getting the vaccination distribution program jump- started?  Like getting his administration staffed after a non-transition?  Like getting his legislative agenda lined up and passing the American Rescue Plan Act?  Bueller?  Bueller?

We're reminded of the limited positive value of these press conferences which, under the former guy, tended to allow lies and misinformation to be spread largely unchallenged by the assembled press who rarely followed up on lie- studded answers.  That's not going to be a problem with President Biden, but we see how the media is likely to act anyway based on past performance.  This is from a 2015 Columbia Journalism Review article about President Obama' press conferences (our emphasis):

The press, meanwhile, shows itself to be a willing hostage to the modern demands for a click-worthy story and a tweetable quote. At press conferences, the overwhelming tendency is to ask about the day’s headline or to look for the “gotcha” question, instead of addressing long-term accountability issues. Frequently, one journalist after the next will ask the same question, as they did during the post-election news conference. Reporters ask questions not to get information, but to get a reaction. And even with that strategy, they rarely succeed. 

Of course, no one is asking or expecting the media to throw softball questions at President Biden, but let's get real about the more prosaic motivations here, which haven't changed since that description was written. And of course, the media has a vested interest in showing that it doesn't have a political bias and will go after a Democratic president even as he's fighting anti- democratic forces in the country that would ultimately end a free press. 

But the media should also have a bias in favor of democracy, which is the existential struggle of the moment in this country that only one party is fighting. As Dan Froomkin of PressWatchers puts it:

... [O]ne party, you have certainly noticed, has over the last decade or two descended into a froth of racism, grievance and reality-denial. Asking you to triangulate between today’s Democrats and today’s Republicans is effectively asking you to lobotomize yourself. I’m against that.

Defining our job as “not taking sides between the two parties” has also empowered bad-faith critics to accuse us of bias when we are simply calling out the truth. We will not take sides with one political party or the other, ever. But we will proudly, enthusiastically, take the side of wide-ranging, fact-based debate.

So, yes, President Biden will hold a news conference soon.  Let's see if anything has changed in the way of media responsibility and perspective.

BONUS:  At least one observer aside from us is skeptical --

After Biden holds a formal news conference, which is soon I assume, given he was no doubt waiting for a wave of good news to ride, what will they complain about then?

— Schooley (@Rschooley) March 7, 2021

 

What if he just answered every question, “You’ll have to wait and see” and “I’ll be announcing something in about two weeks.” Would that clear the hurdle?

— Schooley (@Rschooley) March 7, 2021