White House: We Control News Media

A White House spokesman, White House Communications Director Anita Dunn, revealed recently that the Obama election campaign controlled the news media for their own benefit.
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=113347

President Obama's presidential campaign focused on "making" the news media cover certain issues while rarely communicating anything to the press unless it was "controlled," White House Communications Director Anita Dunn disclosed to the Dominican government at a videotaped conference.

"Very rarely did we communicate through the press anything that we didn't absolutely control," said Dunn.

"One of the reasons we did so many of the David Plouffe videos was not just for our supporters, but also because it was a way for us to get our message out without having to actually talk to reporters," said Dunn, referring to Plouffe, who was Obama's chief campaign manager.

"We just put that out there and made them write what Plouffe had said as opposed to Plouffe doing an interview with a reporter. So it was very much we controlled it as opposed to the press controlled it," Dunn said.

Continued Dunn: "Whether it was a David Plouffe video or an Obama speech, a huge part of our press strategy was focused on making the media cover what Obama was actually saying as opposed to why the campaign was saying it, what the tactic was. … Making the press cover what we were saying."

Maybe that is why PresBo’s administration has declared war on Fox News... the only news network being critical of his Presidency. This is from White House senior advisor David Axelrod.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1009/28417.html

"It’s really not news — it’s pushing a point of view. And the bigger thing is that other news organizations like yours ought not to treat them that way, and we’re not going to treat them that way. We’re going to appear on their shows. We’re going to participate but understanding that they represent a point of view.”

And, of course, even when FoxNews breaks an important story like the Acorn scandal, the White House doesn’t want other news media following along.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1009/28497.html

But most of all, get other journalists to think twice before following the network’s stories in their own coverage.

"We're doing what we think is important to make sure news is covered as fairly as possible," a White House official told POLITICO, noting how the recent ACORN scandal story started because Fox covered it “breathlessly for weeks on end.”

“And then you had a couple days of breast-beating from The Washington Post and The New York Times about whether or not they were fast enough on the ACORN story,” the official said. “And it's like: Wait a second, guys. Let's make sure that we keep perspective on what are the most important stories, and what's being driven by a network that has a perspective. Being able to make that point has been important.”

Make sure you read that last segment carefully… doesn’t it sound like the Obama administration is trying to do what they boasted they did during the campaign? Doesn’t it sound like an attempt to control the news media? No President likes critical news coverage, but most have the good sense, grace, and class not to attack and attempt to discredit the news outlet. Nixon tried that with the Washington Post, calling them biased and partisan to discredit the true stories they were running. We’re seeing the same behavior now… but that strategy didn’t work out so well for Nixon, did it?

This little episode bespeaks of a breathtaking amount of arrogance on behalf of the Obama administration. It also shows little acceptance of a (to them) little-regarded section of our Constitution known as the First Amendment… which protects the freedom of the press. Whether the government legislates away that freedom or attempts to use the power of the President to destroy dissenting press outlets, it is still a violation of the Constitution.

I’m fairly certain that THIS isn’t the change that people hoped Obama would bring…