The administration’s secretive nature
And no, I’m not talking about the Bush adminstration but instead the upcoming Obama administration, if this profile piece on Obama’s chief spokesman-turned-press secretary Robert Gibbs is any indication.
It’s too juicy to excerpt, so make sure to read the post, written by Mary Katharine Ham and which includes quotes from a recent story the Washington Post did on him, in full. In short, Gibbs was well-known within media circles for freezing out reporters who wrote stories critical of The One, and overall had a love hate relationship with the mainstream press.
Of course, much of this information is surfacing only now that the election is over and the media has fulfilled its responsiblity to the Democratic party to help get “their guy” elected. They no longer need to wear their masks of objectivity. We saw it with the admission from MSDNC’s Chris Matthews that he felt it was “his job” to help the upcoming administration succeed, and we saw it with the WaPo’s mea culpa on their overwhelmingly pro-Obama bias.
And now that we know how Barack Obama’s chief spokesman handled the mainstream press while on the campaign trail, we have a good indication of just how that same spokesman will likely treat the WH press corps once Obama takes the oath of office. And in turn, we know exactly how the mainstream press will report on how Gibbs’ treats them: In order to maintain access, they probably won’t.
Related: ABC News Nightline co-host Terry Moran gushes over Obama’s meeting with President Bush.