Obama Is an Avid Reader, and Critic, of the News

While former President George W. Bush and his aides liked to say they ignored the Fourth Estate, President Barack Obama is an avid consumer of political news and commentary. But in his informal role as news media critic in chief, he developed a detailed critique of modern news coverage that he regularly expresses to those around him.

The news media have played a crucial role in Obama’s career, helping to make him a national star not long after he had been an anonymous state legislator. As President, however, he has come to believe the news media have had a role in frustrating his ambitions to change the terms of the country’s political discussion. He particularly believes that Democrats do not receive enough credit for their willingness to accept cuts in Medicare and Social Security, while Republicans oppose almost any tax increase to reduce the deficit. Privately and publicly, President Obama has articulated what he sees as two overarching problems: coverage that focuses on political winners and losers rather than substance; and a “false balance,” in which two opposing sides are given equal weight regardless of the facts.