Source Material: The White House and the Press: News Organizations as a Presidential Resource and as a Source of Pressure

Abstract

When a president comes into office today, he needs to have a communications operation in place ready to handle the queries of reporters and to take advantage of the enormous number of opportunities now present for a chief executive to speak to his various audiences, including those outside the United States. It is not a matter of choice for a president and his team. Looking at some facts and figures relating to the presence of reporters in the White House and recent patterns of public presidential remarks, one can understand the need a president has for an effective communications operation to manage his relations with the news organizations that carry his words to the public. This article explores the number of opportunities a president currently has to communicate with the public through his addresses and remarks and in his responses to queries from reporters. It does not assess how successful presidents have been in using the opportunities. It serves as a complement to the article in the June issue of the journal, Communications Operations in the White House of President George W. Bush: Making News on His Terms. That article describes a well‐functioning communications operation, and this piece focuses on why a president operating in today's environment needs to have such an organization to identify and to take advantage of existing opportunities to get to the public.