Kamala is ignoring the media because she can
Issue #704 The Choice, Thursday, August 15, 2024
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For the first few hours or so after Biden-targeting members of the media got what they wanted – namely the replacement of President Joe Biden as a presidential candidate – it was all love. Biden had done the honorable thing, they said. It was about damned time, they said. And even though most of them had never suggested that the obvious choice of Kamala Harris should be the replacement (how about Gretchen? How about Gavin? How about Anyone Else But Biden To Be Named Later?), they now said that this was just such a cool thing, such a brilliant move, and WOW!
Over here, Kamala! Over here! Look at us adoring you, Kamala!
And Kamala smiled. And she waved. And she spoke to one massive crowd after another. And there were TV ads featuring Kamala all over the place. And Kamala was suddenly on TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, and all over social media.
But…but…
Where was the big Kamala interview featuring Kamala being interviewed by some bigwig reporter? Where was the Times scoop featuring an in-depth piece on the Black Girl magic that is Kamala? Where is the scoop in the Washington Post? What happened to the Kamala Harris press event, where she exhaustively answered all of the questions shouted at her?
Over here, Kamala! Over here! HEY! KAMALA! Where are you…?
Guys, that is Kamala ignoring you. And you should get used to it. For some strange reason, we in the media still seem to think we are entitled, but we aren’t. We still think presidential candidates have to answer our questions, but they don’t. We think they still need us to get their message out, but they damned sure don’t.
These are no longer the days of Tim Russert, the legendary Meet the Press giant of a reporter whose influence was such that a presidential candidate didn’t dare run for office without first appearing on his show and answering his withering – and highly informed – questions. Nor are these the days of the Huntley Brinkley Report or of Walter Cronkite.
These are the days when barely anyone reads a newspaper anymore and when hardly anyone bothers to watch the news. These are the days of social media and an ever-exploding number of highly-tailored news silos designed specifically to satisfy the unique appetites of specific audiences who only want to listen to their news, not the news.
Ironically, you’d think reporters would have read the tea leaves eight years ago when Trump became president and promptly ignored them, canceling press conferences altogether except for a few appearances here and there. And why did Trump do that? Because he could. Because he realized that appearing in the White House briefing room was not mandatory, nor was it mandatory to call press conferences, or to grant interviews. He realized that he really didn’t need to talk to the press.
But then President Biden won the election in 2020, and he decided that the exclusion of the media had been wrong. He still believed, bless his decent heart, that the media served an important purpose in a democracy. So the White House re-started its media briefings, and President Biden resumed the practice of press conferences and answering the media’s questions. Maybe not as much as the media wanted, but at least the media was back in the room. And for the first few weeks or so, it was all love. Because the White House press corps was so glad to be allowed back inside and that a president had once again validated their importance and their relevance after four years in the darkness.
But it wasn’t long before that old familiar feeling of entitlement began to resurface, and that led to incidents like those highlighted on a recent edition of MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell’s show featuring video footage of the White House press corps screaming and shouting at President Biden, barely allowing him to answer their questions. Then the same thing happened to White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre when that same crew screamed and yelled at her, demanding that she answer their questions. And then, when she had answered their questions, screamed that she had not answered their questions.
And now they are complaining that Kamala isn’t being nice to them like she should.
Maybe they should take a clue. Because why in the hell would she – or should she – subject herself to that circus if she doesn’t have to? It’s not up to Kamala to prove herself to the media, it really is the other way around. We may not like it, but that’s the way it is. For one possible explanation for why that is the way it is, consider this August 9 post from Letters From an American Substack writer and brilliant historian Heather Cox Richardson:
“In contrast, as presidential candidates, first Biden and now Harris have not appeared to bother with access journalism or courting established media. Instead, they have recalled an earlier time by turning directly to voters through social media and by articulating clear policies that support their dedication to the larger project of American democracy.
Yesterday, after journalists had begun to complain that they did not have enough access to Harris, she came to them directly on the tarmac at the Detroit airport and asked, “What’cha got?” All but one of their questions were about Trump and his comments; the one question that was not about Trump came when a journalist asked when Harris would sit down for an interview.”
Having said all this, I still believe strongly in the importance of the media to a functioning democracy. Hell, I’ve been a journalist for more than 30 years. But being a journalist is not an entitlement, it is a responsibility. And respect for what we do is not granted by our titles, it is earned. We are already bordering extinction, but does it have to be us that delivers the killing blow to our own profession?
UPDATE: According to The Hill, the vice president has said she will do a full interview before the end of August. Stay tuned…
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Thank you.
The media treat Joe Biden as shit and they act like they're too afraid of Mango baby to ask a question and then FOLLOW IT UP.
Not to mention the constant yammering of "Biden is old" and the crickets when Trump is revealed to be both old and demented.
If she decides to do interviews, I hope she goes to local papers in battleground states. If the NYT and the WaPo spend the next four years begging for crumbs, it will be good for them.