"It's not the same ball game anymore," said Helen Thomas, who has covered eight presidential administrations since John F. Kennedy at an American Forum yesterday evening. Thomas, who is known as the "dean of the Washington press corps," was permitted to ask the first question at every presidential press conference until the current Bush administration came into power.
The panel discussed the history and future of the White House press corps, the "oldest and strangest type of embedded journalists," according to moderator, AU Professor Mark McDonald, at Tuesday's forum.
The forum, titled "The White House Press Corps: Then and Now," was held as part of AU's School of Communication Week.
Panelists mostly focused on the differences between the Bush administration's dealings with the press as compared to past administrations.
Kenneth T. Walsh, who covers the White House for U.S. News and World Report and is also an adjunct professor in the School of Communication, said that past press secretaries have believed they serve the president and the public but that Scott McClellan, the current press secretary, believes he serves President Bush only.
Alexis Simendinger, White House correspondent for the National Journal, said that in the Bush administration, decisions are made by only a handful of people. This makes information more difficult to obtain than in the Clinton administration, where decision making was more spread out.
"I've never seen an administration that was more secretive," said Thomas. She said some administrations have been looser in the past, and it is easier to obtain information when there are two factions within the White House that play off of each other, like the conservative and moderate groups within the Regan administration.
An audience member asked if White House reporting might change if Scott McClellan is replaced, as many Washington observers believe. Simendinger said that it depends who the replacement is and what challenges that person faces. "You could change the player, but you need to change the whole game plan," she said.
The panel also discussed changes within the press corps itself. Simendinger said that the range of media outlets has expanded enormously, putting together reporters with different deadlines and focuses to their stories.
"I find a great deal of camaraderie, even among competitors," she said.
Walsh said that journalists can't work together too much because competition gets in the way.
Thomas agreed. "You have camaraderie but you don't have collusion," she said.
The panel also discussed the apparent lack of investigative journalism today. Simendinger said that there is less investigative journalism because it is so expensive to fund, but that "there's still really quality investigative journalism taking place," such as the discoveries of secret CIA prisons in Europe, prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib in Iraq, and the NSA wiretapping program.
Walsh said that if the Democrats in Congress could exercise their oversight capabilities, there would be more stories.
The panel also discussed the qualifications of successful correspondents. Helen Thomas said they should be curious, want to learn, seek the truth and not be interested in "big money."
Walsh noted that these journalists must have a thick skin. "If you don't have a feud with somebody in the White House at any given time, you aren't doing your job right," he said.
"We didn't go into this business to be loved," said Thomas.
Simendinger recommended that aspiring reporters cover the rest of Washington before covering the White House. She said covering campaigns, advocacy groups and Congress will give you a bank of contacts to use for future stories.
"I thought [the panelists'] advice was relevant to people pursuing that type of career," said Elizabeth Royall, a freshman in SOC. "It takes a certain type of person to deal with the pressures that you face."
"They hate us. Presidents hate us. It goes with the turf," said Thomas.
