Politico senior media writer Jack Shafer typed an article titled “Unsolicited Advice for the Pouty Republicans Who Stiff Reporters: 2024 GOP contenders are making a big mistake by only talking to themselves.” The problem here is you don’t have to be “pouty” to make a decision to restrict media access. And not all “reporters” are liberal (so-called “mainstream”) reporters. That’s an insult to conservative reporters.
Shafer refers to Governor. Ron DeSantis and the Florida Republican Party restricting media access to their “Sunshine Summit.” At least Shafer refers to Barack Obama, who “saw the good politics in freezing the press out.” Joe Biden greatly restricted media access in his 2020 “basement” campaign. Was that “pouty”?
Shafer created a list naming reasons why “pouty Republicans,” which Shafer used to restrict reporter access.
— The press is the only alternative when a politician prohibits it [but]”To dig deeper and find out the truth, it is important to do so.” An alternative is to be soft like they are with Democrats. It is not often about investigative reporting. Instead, this is about embarrassing the politician during public events with “gotcha” questions.
— “Not all negative press — and that’s what press-avoidant politicians fear — is necessarily bad for a candidate. Trump is a litigious figure with the press. He has always spoken out in large numbers to journalists and will continue to do so. Trump’s role as a role model is why the majority of Republicans do not want him to run for another term.
— “A candidate can maintain a cone of silence, but he can’t stop the flow of information. You can’t stop the flow of information, as [Dave] Weigel wrote, reporters can interview the attendees from the events they’ve been excluded from or listen to recordings of events.” But it should not look like a ban on reporters. Republicans will see it as if they are not willing to suffer from hostile journalists.
— “[G]The candidate also looks weak if they are silent. This becomes part of the story. This gives opponents of the taciturn Republicans a chance to score a punch. “My opponent is too shy to confront me.” New York Times. What is his relationship with Vladimir Putin going?’” That tactic has been used against Joe Biden, and the Democrats are often “too chicken to face Fox News” and other conservative outlets. They…take on the risk.
Shafer believes that some Republican rebels will allow wide access and have an edge over DeSantis. Trump is already mentioned. That’s obvious. Shafer said:
Boomerang on politicians is a method of making the media enemies. See the careers of George Wallace, Richard Nixon and Spiro Agnew for historical examples….
Sometimes, cutting off media access is more wise than we think. As former Vice President Hubert Humphrey once wrote, “It is always a risk to speak to the press: They are likely to report what you say.”
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