Half-Court Press
American presidents have notoriously thorny relationships with the press. But according to a new analysis of journalists’ aggressiveness in presidential news conferences, some conditions provoke the press corps’ wrath much more than others. For example, high unemployment makes reporters substantially more likely to ask adversarial questions. Likewise, if interest rates are on the rise, the ...
American presidents have notoriously thorny relationships with the press. But according to a new analysis of journalists' aggressiveness in presidential news conferences, some conditions provoke the press corps' wrath much more than others. For example, high unemployment makes reporters substantially more likely to ask adversarial questions. Likewise, if interest rates are on the rise, the exchanges can be more bruising. But when it comes to foreign-policy issues, American presidents get off easy.
American presidents have notoriously thorny relationships with the press. But according to a new analysis of journalists’ aggressiveness in presidential news conferences, some conditions provoke the press corps’ wrath much more than others. For example, high unemployment makes reporters substantially more likely to ask adversarial questions. Likewise, if interest rates are on the rise, the exchanges can be more bruising. But when it comes to foreign-policy issues, American presidents get off easy.
In a recent article published in the American Sociological Review, University of California, Los Angeles, sociologists Steven Clayman and John Heritage, and RAND Corp. statisticians Marc Elliot and Laurie McDonald, found that "questions concerning foreign affairs and military matters are less assertive, less adversarial, and embody less accountability than domestic affairs questions." After analyzing more than 4,000 questions from nearly half a century of news conferences, the authors concluded that reporters’ "cautiousness [on foreign policy]… remained substantially unchanged through periods of war and peace." Why does the Fourth Estate go wobbly on foreign affairs? "Journalists have less access to information in the foreign affairs arena," says Clayman, "so they simply may not have the basis to challenge the official line."
That may be a relief for President George W. Bush. Although his foreign policy has been the source of considerable controversy, Bush is enjoying a relatively strong second-term economy, which is what journalists seem to care about most. But he isn’t entirely off the hook. The study also found journalists to be "significantly more aggressive" when dealing with lame ducks.
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