When US President Joe Biden recently showed avoidance of communication with the media, the Washington Post (WP), a major daily newspaper, criticized it with an editorial titled “Biden does not hold press conferences anymore, it is unacceptable.” Taking and answering questions from the press is a primary duty of anyone in office, saying, “Mr. President, pick up the microphone. The press is not your enemy.”
The WP supported President Biden during the 2020 presidential election and is evaluated as being more friendly to the ruling Democratic Party than the opposition Republican Party. However, even this WP criticized President Biden’s recent actions, saying, “He promised transparency, but he is hitting a wall with the media.”
On the 8th (local time), the WP said in an editorial, “It seems that the president has lost the microphone. He has turned into a news media evader and is harming the presidency and the country.” President Biden △only read the speech at the press conference, did not answer questions and answers with the media, △focused on’one-on-one’ interviews with some specific media instead of the entire press conference, and △reluctant to communicate with reporters even during the public schedule. Criticized .
After giving a speech at a press conference on aviation policy at the White House that day, President Biden left the podium immediately without answering questions. In response, the WP pointed out that “the president ignored reporters’ questions.” According to the WP, the only presidents who held less press conferences than President Biden were former Presidents Richard Nixon and former President Ronald Reagan.
zoom inUS President Joe Biden is explaining a new policy at the White House in Washington on the 8th that obliges major airlines to compensate for flight cancellations. Behind him, the secretary of state, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, can be seen. President Biden is being criticized by the media for not receiving questions and answers from reporters at major press conferences, including the conference that day. Washington = AP NewsisPresident Biden, who is famous for his frequent mistakes, recently made a mistake related to the schedule of a press conference. On the 5th, President Biden asked reporters to leave, saying, “I have an important press conference in the afternoon,” when reporters asked questions after completing the public schedule. However, the press conference referred to by President Biden turned out to be a media interview. On this day, President Biden gave his first interview with US broadcaster MSNBC after announcing his run for re-election.
Regarding the behavior of President Biden, who confused the press conference and the interview, the WP said, “A press conference is when the president receives questions from various reporters. A one-on-one interview with a hand-picked reporter does not count as a press conference.”
zoom inOn the 26th of last month, President Biden and President Seok-yeol Yoon held a joint press conference at the White House in Washington, USA, answering questions from reporters. Washington = AP NewsisThis year, President Biden has never held a press conference alone in front of the media. However, he held joint press conferences when foreign leaders visited the United States. It was the same when Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited in March and President Yoon Seok-yeol visited last month.
The WP pointed out, “The American public shouldn’t even need to visit foreign heads of state to hear the president answer the pressing questions of the free press.” The WP said, “Usually, presidents used to communicate informally with the media on the way to digest their schedules, but President Biden rarely communicates like this.”
zoom inPresident Biden (right), who attended the White House Correspondents’ Dinner held at the Hilton Hotel in Washington, USA on the 29th of last month. Washington = AP NewsisPresident Biden is also aware of his appearance. President Biden, who attended the White House Correspondents’ Dinner held on the 29th of last month, said, “In many respects, today’s dinner is a place to summarize the first two years of his tenure. He joked that he would speak for 10 minutes, take no questions, and exit cheerfully.” However, some journalists reacted negatively to the joke, calling it “inappropriate.”
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.