Mass Media and the Presidency
Mass Media and the Presidency “Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States,” as the music is qued the president takes the stage. ... As the president takes the stage at event after event, day after day the media follow him from city to city. The Presidency is laden with politics and therefore the president must make his case to the people as a whole in advance of his agenda. ... In this attempt to communicate to the American people, the president must utilize the media as the medium for submitting themselves and essentially their agenda. The president and his staff must at all times try to be in control of how his agenda is being presented and to not let the mass media of the twenty first century filter his words. Mass media has become a swirl of the twenty-four hour news cycle that many times sensationalizes even the most trivial of stories. ... In an attempt to communicate the president’s message effectively through the mass media, the White House Press Secretary, Advance, and Communications offices, among others, collaborate to produce a picturesque product. ... The state of mass media in the twenty-first century makes what is called “media spin” an almost imperative in the White House. ... Armed with this ability to potential direct the media in one way or another, the Press Secretary plays a vital role in the communications of the president’s agenda. Because the Press Secretary holds this ability his role in any White House has always been one of major significance but is likely to become more significant as the mass media coverage of the president continues to evolve. ... When in her 2001 study on office of the White House, Martha Joynt Kumar asserts, “Communications is central to the modern presidency and its position is reflected in what it is the White House senior staff do everyday,” showing just how what comes out of the Communications office affects the day-to-day operations at the highest levels of the White House (4). Communications as an official office in the White House hasn’t always existed, for it was created and implemented with a great degree of success during the Nixon presidency and since has stayed on and had played a vital role in mass media, White House relations. ... The office posses the ability the control what exactly the media covers, and therefore, controls what the public sees. ... Clinton Communications Director Anne Lewis, who ran the Communications office during arguably one of the biggest public relations challenges of any presidency, the Clinton impeachment states, “Everything about what that minute (of television coverage) ought to emphasize and re-emphasize the same message. ... Once the message of a presidential initiative is decided on the communications department notifies all other offices, and therefore they are able to plan and begin coordination for the mega mass media undertaking. In planning events and travel the communications office must be readily in touch with the scheduling and advance offices and to ensure proper media coverage they must be in coordination with the Press Secretary’s office. ... Probably the most overlooked but a major player in the presenting of the president’s agenda to the mass media is the White House office of Advance. ... The groups of people who perform the art of advance are trained to visualize exactly how the mass media and the public wills see the president.