I just love it when a president cuts through miles of spin and says exactly what he means (or what she means, in the case of future female presidents, such as future President Rice.)
Earlier this week, President George W. Bush decided he was fed up with the national news spin and decided to speak in a more direct manner to the public. "Roundtable" interviews with multiple members of different regional news services are not unheard of for this administration, but Bush's latest media move is bolder than ever - he granted five eight-minute interviews and sat down with all five of the major regional broadcasters for the first time, hitting the public hard and local.
Bush's reason for bypassing the national networks and other larger news services? Listen to the man himself. In an interview with Hearst-Argyle Television, he said he is "mindful of the filter through which some news travels, and somehow you just got to go over the heads of the filter and speak directly to the people."
Easy translation: the national mainstream media have been little more than a hindrance to the president at every opportunity they've had. What, you need examples? Look no further than the mainstream media's reactions.
In one of his trademark bursts of objectivity, old pro Dan Rather noted, "With U.S. public support for his Iraq policy slipping, President Bush is blaming the national media and attempting to make an end run around it now."
But for snide remarks, you can't beat ABC's Terry Moran, who fumed, "The president was out golfing this holiday afternoon, but he spent the morning whacking the press." Whew. I'd hate to see what these guys are like when they are editorializing!
Yep, the president had nothing to worry about from these bastions of credibility.
Oh, wait.
In the interviews, the president criticized how the national outlets have focused far too much on the deaths and violence going on in areas of
liberated Iraq, but not the positives.
"The Iraqi people are beginning to prosper," Bush said. "Electricity is up and running, and millions or thousands of children have been immunized. Hospitals are open, schools are functioning."
We don't hear this enough on the networks, people. We instead hear micro-focus stories on the individual dissenters who want Americans out and on the military screw-ups and death tolls. This would be like a French TV station doing a feature story on ASU but only interviewing the crazy fundamentalist preachers or maybe the older guy in the MU who's always starting conversations with strangers about how oil companies run the world or something. Talk about your filters.
For the past couple of years, we've heard plenty from the left that Bush has not said enough to make his case for the war. I think the people who said that simply were not paying attention, but, well, here he is now, in all his Texas glory, making his case for peace.
To quote Bill O'Reilly, the president has entered a "no-spin zone." Or, perhaps, a "no-filter zone." Whatever. You asked for him, you got him. Deal.
Eric Spratling is a journalism senior. Reach him at eric.spratling@asu.edu.
