WaPo writers warn reporters to avoid 'drama,' soundbites at Biden's first news conference
Post's left-wing media columnist declares Biden's first news conference is 'test' for reporters
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A pair of Washington Post writers had a curious message ahead of President Biden's first solo news conference since taking office: the media better watch themselves.
Biden has already set a modern record by waiting more than two months to face reporters for a formal press conference, and he is expected to face questions Thursday about a growing border crisis which critics say was exacerbated by his liberal immigration policies.
But for left-wing Post media columnist Margaret Sullivan and opinion writer Jennifer Rubin, it's the press who should be on the hot seat.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Biden’s first news conference is a test for him. But it’s a bigger test for White House reporters," read the headline for Sullivan's piece on Tuesday.
Sullivan wrote that show-boating press members might worry about not looking as tough on Biden as they were on President Donald Trump, with whom the mainstream media had a mutually antagonistic relationship.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"For the White House press corps, there’s also a temptation to play to the crowd. Every TV reporter has to be thinking about the 10-second clip of their question that might be used on Thursday’s newscast, establishing them as the star du jour who bravely challenged the president," Sullivan wrote.
Rubin, one of the most enthusiastic Democratic boosters on the Post's roster, complained the media had unfairly "hounded" White House press secretary Jen Psaki over the border crisis.
"Every president must be covered with a critical eye, but the constant bias for drama leads to misleading coverage when the Oval Office inhabitant is not drama-prone," Rubin wrote, in a piece headlined, "Biden should fact-check the White House press corps."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Both Sullivan and Rubin took exception to the border crisis being called a crisis by the media, suggesting journalists were bowing to conservative pressure.
They seemed annoyed by the coverage of the surge of unaccompanied children in crowded facilities, the release of COVID-positive immigrants into the country, and migrants saying they felt Biden's policies and language were inviting them to the country.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"The burgeoning number of migrants — including thousands of children — is a legitimate concern and a valid story. But much of the news media seems to be using it to show that they intend to present Biden in just as critical a light as they often did Trump — regardless of whether that’s deserved," Sullivan wrote, mocking ABC News for holding a "This Week" roundtable near the border on Sunday.
To bolster her point, she twice quoted left-wing commentator Joe Lockhart, who served as press secretary for President Bill Clinton.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Rubin said the press had to stop treating Republicans like they were acting in "good faith" with their border concerns. GOP leaders have for weeks blasted Biden for reversing or loosening Trump-era policies geared toward border control, and Texas Democratic congressman Henry Cuellar has also joined the chorus.
Conserative National Review writer Charles C. W. Cooke reacted with amusement at the tone from the newspaper with the slogan, "Democracy Dies In Darkness."
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Quite a shift, albeit not a remotely surprising one," he wrote.