White House Meeting for Black Journalists Doesn’t Stay Off-The-Record for Long
But not this week.
A group of black bloggers and journalists from outlets like Essence and BET were invited to the White House on Monday for a half-day of policy briefings by the president’s advisers. The White House provided the journalists with an agenda that spelled out the ground rules: the first half of their briefings was to be on background, meaning they could report any information they learned but not attribute it to any specific official; the second half was off the record entirely.
Still, that did not stop bloggers from writing about the event and, in one case, posting a video of the president’s remarks to the group.
The blog ConcreteLoop.com posted a clip shot by a blogger for www.theybf.com of Mr. Obama’s meet-and-greet with the journalists. In it, the president stressed the importance of White House outreach to black media, especially blogs with large black followings.
“The media is changing so rapidly,” the president said, acknowledging the role of the Web in allowing his administration to reach out beyond audiences that are mainstream media consumers.
“It allows us to reach audiences that may not be watching ‘Meet the Press’ — not that there’s anything wrong with ‘Meet the Press.’ I’m just saying that, you know, it might be a different demographic,” he added, stirring a few laughs from the group.
The black blogosphere, he added, was a crucial medium through which the White House could covey its message and get feedback from the black community.
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