Over to You, Bill

0 Comments | Insight on the News, Jan 3, 2000 | by John Elvin

President Clinton might want to consider a future career as a news celebrity. He seems to enjoy managing the news, as he indicated by setting up Websites to provide coverage of his overseas expeditions and creating a State Department office to filter news going overseas. The latest effort in media control involves creation of an "Ask the White House" news service.

As presented in an announcement from the White House Press Office, "Ask the White House" will provide "a unique opportunity to ask questions about important policies and issues that make up the president's agenda." Citizens may submit their questions to selected Internet news sites. "These sites will then submit their five most asked questions to the White House Press Office," according to the announcement, and responses will be posted back on those selected Internet news sites.

The first Internet news site to sign on is America Online. That is interesting because, although not previously known as a news-gathering organization, America Online most certainly is known as a "members only" organization. Will we have to log on to AOL to get the president's answers?

More importantly, this end run around established news outlets portends further erosion of the traditional White House news conference. Obviously, the easily managed electronic Q&A process makes it easy to orchestrate, spin or dismiss serious inquiries and to evade further a press corps that at least in theory makes a career of asking the hard questions.