All the President’s Media: How the Traditional Press Responded to New Communications Technology Adopted by US Presidents

Abstract

Both Franklin D. Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy mastered new forms of mass media communications, ridding themselves of formal gatekeepers to communicate directly to US citizens. For Roosevelt, mastering radio airwaves would allow him to navigate past traditional presidential rhetorical tropes and print journalists’ interpretations of his presidential messages to speak directly to the American public. For Kennedy, television meant advertising spots, late-night talk show appearances, and hour-long specials with his family as a way of pushing the medium beyond televised speeches in his campaigns. This study attempts to understand how the traditional press reacted to these unfiltered messages. Findings suggest that newspaper editorials and magazine stories initially praised these men’s innovative approaches to new technology, but over time, legacy media became disillusioned as it began to view presidential uses of new media as a nuisance that hampered legitimate reporting.