If a president gave an Oval Office address and the networks refused to air it, would it make a sound? This is not, most likely, a question that occupies philosophers, but it does cause White House communications staffers to wake up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat.
In the not-too-distant past, many of us got our political news either from the print copy of a local newspaper on our doorstep at daybreak or from the broadcast networks’ nightly news. There wasn’t a whole lot of choice. These days, we curate our own content.
A rookie president, entering office with as much goodwill as he (or she) is ever likely to enjoy, has room to maneuver and opportunities to act that seldom last long. At least since FDR presidents have intently followed the media’s short-term judgments about success and failure.
What must the next president do in the first year to manage the overheated, ubiquitous, yet fragmented media environment in which we find ourselves today?
There is a romanticized view of the White House communications and press office that West Wing viewers bring to the table when contemplating the suite of offices across from the Roosevelt Room. There is a cynical view held by the press and some in the public of the operation as an information control, state media propaganda machine—the so-called “permanent campaign.”
