PressThink: The Press No Longer Matters

NYU prof Jay Rosen uses the microcosm of the Cheney/press notification hubbub to articulate a thesis he's been moving towards for years: that the Bush administration has walked away from the established concensus that the White House and the press have a relationship at all. They've unilaterally changed the game, and the press hasn't yet learned (and may never learn) to adapt.

Other White Houses had a “line of the day” they wanted to push. None had a spokesman like Scott McClellan who, no matter what the question, will mindlessly repeat the line of the day as a way of showing journalists that they have no rights to an answer. That isn’t “spin,” although it may superficially look like spin. That’s shutting down the podium and emptying out the briefing room without saying you’re doing it.