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Why Have White House Press Conferences?

Moderate Right

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What actual purpose do they serve? I'm not talking about Trump in particular. I'm talking about in general. All they do is spew the administration's line, which is usually always known anyway. When they don't mind telling the truth they tell the truth. When they don't want to tell the truth then they lie or spin out of it in some fashion. Every press secretary or president back as far as I can remember has done this. Now the left claims that everything coming out of Trump's mouth or Sander's mouth is a lie so why even bother asking anything if you believe it will be a lie anyway? What's the point? What does it matter if Acosta asks a question or doesn't ask a question when Acosta himself probably believes the answer will be nothing but BS? And, how many press conferences actually reveal any Earth shattering new information that was not known before? And, if there is any Earth shattering new information, how do you know it to be true of any president or press secretary? The whole thing has been a joke long before the Trump administration came along. It's just another propaganda arm of whatever administration is in power. The "Freedom Of The Press" really isn't a check on anything and pretty much has no power, accept in the court of public opinion, which the press influence with their own biases.
 
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What actual purpose do they serve? I'm not talking about Trump in particular. I'm talking about in general. All they do is spew the administration's line, which is usually always known anyway. When they don't mind telling the truth they tell the truth. When they don't want to tell the truth then they lie or spin out of it in some fashion. Every press secretary or president back as far as I can remember has done this. Now the left claims that everything coming out of Trump's mouth or Sander's mouth is a lie so why even bother asking anything if you believe it will be a lie anyway? What's the point? What does it matter if Acosta asks a question or doesn't ask a question when Acosta himself probably believes the answer will be nothing but BS? And, how many press conferences actually reveal any Earth shattering new information that was not known before? And, if there is any Earth shattering new information, how do you know it to be true of any president or press secretary? The whole thing has been a joke long before the Trump administration came along. It's just another propaganda arm of whatever administration is in power. The "Freedom Of The Press" really isn't a check on anything and pretty much has no power, accept in the court of public opinion, which the press influence with their own biases.

To me it is a way to keep the administration accountable, it is to have a public record of where the administration stands whether that be lies or not because the executive in the American system does not sit in the legislature. I see it as fulfilling a similar role to question period in the parliamentary system, however less effective.
 
What actual purpose do they serve? I'm not talking about Trump in particular. I'm talking about in general. All they do is spew the administration's line, which is usually always known anyway. When they don't mind telling the truth they tell the truth. When they don't want to tell the truth then they lie or spin out of it in some fashion. Every press secretary or president back as far as I can remember has done this. Now the left claims that everything coming out of Trump's mouth or Sander's mouth is a lie so why even bother asking anything if you believe it will be a lie anyway? What's the point? What does it matter if Acosta asks a question or doesn't ask a question when Acosta himself probably believes the answer will be nothing but BS? And, how many press conferences actually reveal any Earth shattering new information that was not known before? And, if there is any Earth shattering new information, how do you know it to be true of any president or press secretary? The whole thing has been a joke long before the Trump administration came along. It's just another propaganda arm of whatever administration is in power. The "Freedom Of The Press" really isn't a check on anything and pretty much has no power, accept in the court of public opinion, which the press influence with their own biases.

Could you make an argument that the press's ability to influence the court of public opinion would be enhanced without WH press conferences? Hearing it from the horse's mouth can allow me to form my own opinion if I so choose.
 
What actual purpose do they serve? I'm not talking about Trump in particular. I'm talking about in general. All they do is spew the administration's line, which is usually always known anyway. When they don't mind telling the truth they tell the truth. When they don't want to tell the truth then they lie or spin out of it in some fashion. Every press secretary or president back as far as I can remember has done this. Now the left claims that everything coming out of Trump's mouth or Sander's mouth is a lie so why even bother asking anything if you believe it will be a lie anyway? What's the point? What does it matter if Acosta asks a question or doesn't ask a question when Acosta himself probably believes the answer will be nothing but BS? And, how many press conferences actually reveal any Earth shattering new information that was not known before? And, if there is any Earth shattering new information, how do you know it to be true of any president or press secretary? The whole thing has been a joke long before the Trump administration came along. It's just another propaganda arm of whatever administration is in power. The "Freedom Of The Press" really isn't a check on anything and pretty much has no power, accept in the court of public opinion, which the press influence with their own biases.

I kind of agree, they're mostly worthless. The conferences with Press Secretaries are especially useless. But we should expect the President to answer questions from jouranalists.
 
What actual purpose do they serve? I'm not talking about Trump in particular. I'm talking about in general. All they do is spew the administration's line, which is usually always known anyway. When they don't mind telling the truth they tell the truth. When they don't want to tell the truth then they lie or spin out of it in some fashion. Every press secretary or president back as far as I can remember has done this. Now the left claims that everything coming out of Trump's mouth or Sander's mouth is a lie so why even bother asking anything if you believe it will be a lie anyway? What's the point? What does it matter if Acosta asks a question or doesn't ask a question when Acosta himself probably believes the answer will be nothing but BS? And, how many press conferences actually reveal any Earth shattering new information that was not known before? And, if there is any Earth shattering new information, how do you know it to be true of any president or press secretary? The whole thing has been a joke long before the Trump administration came along. It's just another propaganda arm of whatever administration is in power. The "Freedom Of The Press" really isn't a check on anything and pretty much has no power, accept in the court of public opinion, which the press influence with their own biases.

It is a reasonable forum and means for the press to engage with White House administration. The concern about any administration distorting the truth amplifies my point on why the press should challenge assertions made.
 
The "Freedom Of The Press" really isn't a check on anything and pretty much has no power, accept in the court of public opinion, which the press influence with their own biases.
No power? You sure about that? I have two names for you to consider, Woodward and Bernstein. The press, in all it's forms, has tremendous power, informing the public and holding our elected officials accountable.
 
I kind of agree, they're mostly worthless. The conferences with Press Secretaries are especially useless. But we should expect the President to answer questions from jouranalists.

But the presidents often don't really answer the journalist's questions. They do the big dodge. They answer the easy ones but the hard ones are never answered by any president. There is no law that a president has to answer a journalists questions in the way the journalist asked them. That was kind of the point of my post, that's it's all rather useless drivel, whether it be from the press secretary or the president themselves. Every president uses the conferences as a tool to further their agenda, which we already know that anyway.
 
But the presidents often don't really answer the journalist's questions. They do the big dodge. They answer the easy ones but the hard ones are never answered by any president. There is no law that a president has to answer a journalists questions in the way the journalist asked them. That was kind of the point of my post, that's it's all rather useless drivel, whether it be from the press secretary or the president themselves.


Sure. I don't really disagree with you. I would prefer journalists criticize the President's policies and actions.
 
It is a reasonable forum and means for the press to engage with White House administration. The concern about any administration distorting the truth amplifies my point on why the press should challenge assertions made.

But it all really boils down to the court of public opinion. It is a game whereby the administration uses the press to further their agenda while the press uses the conferences to further their own agenda. The public is getting snookered by both sides.
 
No power? You sure about that? I have two names for you to consider, Woodward and Bernstein. The press, in all it's forms, has tremendous power, informing the public and holding our elected officials accountable.

With very rare exception, the press is quite useless. They report stories from "sources" and then they refuse to name their sources. In other words, it is nothing but public opinion because unnamed sources can't be legally used for or against anyone. And, the press can say anything they want, whether it is true or not, when all they've got are those anonymous sources. The media bias can run rampant. Who checks on the media to determine if their anonymous stories have merit or not? No one.
 
Sure. I don't really disagree with you. I would prefer journalists criticize the President's policies and actions.

Then there's really no need to ask questions if all they are going to do is criticize the President's policies and actions. In fact, the media can do that without even having any journalists at all. But, it isn't really the media's job to criticize any president. They should report the news fairly and without a bias. They shouldn't be attacking the president or the administration's policies, merely reporting what they are and they should do that fairly and without a bias. If you are going to report about the Republican tax plan's failures then you also need to report on the tax plan's benefits and not do it in an unfair or biased way. The media should report without having their own agenda, unless they are going to issue a disclaimer that they are a biased news organization. For example, Fox News and Breitbart should issue a disclaimer and MSNBC and CNN should issue a disclaimer that their reporting is biased. Unfortunately, the more MSM such as ABC, CBS, and NBC should be reporting the news fairly and without a bias and they don't. They have a left leaning agenda. So, they should either report the news fairly without a bias or they too should issue a disclaimer that they have an agenda.
 
Why Have White House Press Conferences?

i agree. they're just lie fests for Tweety to use for his own entertainment. if i were running a media establishment, i would pull all of my reporters. let him talk to fox, Breitbart, and other fly by night right wing hack websites that ask him questions like "how are you so awesome?" let a farce be a farce.
 
Then there's really no need to ask questions if all they are going to do is criticize the President's policies and actions. In fact, the media can do that without even having any journalists at all. But, it isn't really the media's job to criticize any president. They should report the news fairly and without a bias. They shouldn't be attacking the president or the administration's policies, merely reporting what they are and they should do that fairly and without a bias. If you are going to report about the Republican tax plan's failures then you also need to report on the tax plan's benefits and not do it in an unfair or biased way. The media should report without having their own agenda, unless they are going to issue a disclaimer that they are a biased news organization. For example, Fox News and Breitbart should issue a disclaimer and MSNBC and CNN should issue a disclaimer that their reporting is biased. Unfortunately, the more MSM such as ABC, CBS, and NBC should be reporting the news fairly and without a bias and they don't. They have a left leaning agenda. So, they should either report the news fairly without a bias or they too should issue a disclaimer that they have an agenda.



It is the job of the media to criticize all people in public roles. Sure as hell is. We don't have a dictatorship...yet.
 
i agree. they're just lie fests for Tweety to use for his own entertainment. if i were running a media establishment, i would pull all of my reporters. let him talk to fox, Breitbart, and other fly by night right wing hack websites that ask him questions like "how are you so awesome?" let a farce be a farce.


Mr President, you called yourself "awesome." How awesome are you?
 
Mr President, you called yourself "awesome." How awesome are you?

"They say Ronald Reagan was awesome, but I am amazingly awesome. Bigly. A lot of people are saying that. The fake news media says i'm bad, but that's just sad. Fake news."
 
With very rare exception, the press is quite useless. They report stories from "sources" and then they refuse to name their sources. In other words, it is nothing but public opinion because unnamed sources can't be legally used for or against anyone. And, the press can say anything they want, whether it is true or not, when all they've got are those anonymous sources. The media bias can run rampant. Who checks on the media to determine if their anonymous stories have merit or not? No one.
Your cynicism isn’t without merit, but your position that the press is “quite useless” is flat wrong. The press, in all it's forms, is vital to our democracy. The 4th estate is responsible for shining a light on our government and telling us the truth when officials don’t. And there’s a whole lot needing illumination nowadays. As for unnamed sources, the press has used them since it's beginning. Often times promising not to reveal a sources identity is the only way to get information. Journalists have even been jailed for refusing to break trust with their informants. I’d much rather live in a country with a free press and deal with sorting through the bias and exaggerations than not and be expected to take Big Brother’s word on everything.
 
It is the job of the media to criticize all people in public roles. Sure as hell is. We don't have a dictatorship...yet.

The media should just report the news, not issue their own opinions on it. Criticizing just means that you have your own agenda and whenever you disagree with the president not following YOUR agenda, then you criticize them. This is exactly what is happening. The media tilt to the left and are mostly registered and donate Democratic and are against conservative values. Therefore, they are nothing but partisan rags criticizing everything Republican in order to influence the public with their own agenda. Then they complain about the president calling them out for being fake news and an enemy of the people.
 
Your cynicism isn’t without merit, but your position that the press is “quite useless” is flat wrong. The press, in all it's forms, is vital to our democracy. The 4th estate is responsible for shining a light on our government and telling us the truth when officials don’t. And there’s a whole lot needing illumination nowadays. As for unnamed sources, the press has used them since it's beginning. Often times promising not to reveal a sources identity is the only way to get information. Journalists have even been jailed for refusing to break trust with their informants. I’d much rather live in a country with a free press and deal with sorting through the bias and exaggerations than not and be expected to take Big Brother’s word on everything.

We have big brother and we have big media, both trying to get us to run our lives the way that THEY want us to run our lives. They are nothing but two sides of the same coin. Big media is no different than big brother.
 
The media should just report the news, not issue their own opinions on it. Criticizing just means that you have your own agenda and whenever you disagree with the president not following YOUR agenda, then you criticize them. This is exactly what is happening. The media tilt to the left and are mostly registered and donate Democratic and are against conservative values. Therefore, they are nothing but partisan rags criticizing everything Republican in order to influence the public with their own agenda. Then they complain about the president calling them out for being fake news and an enemy of the people.


No. Criticism means evaluating. Asking, is this true?
 
I recall a White House Press Secretary working to inform the press from Monday to Friday with only federal holidays were there was no news from the White House. Now, it is a part time job with some weeks without any press coverage. Tweeting is not a press comment.
 
We have big brother and we have big media, both trying to get us to run our lives the way that THEY want us to run our lives. They are nothing but two sides of the same coin. Big media is no different than big brother.
Wrong. Big media doesn’t tax us or make laws, etc.. Being a smart consumer of information is a very small price to pay for freedom of speech.
 
Anytime Trump speaks, whether it's a news conference or some kind of appearance, the media should record it, and in the remote possibility should he makes any relevant policy proclamation, it should be shown. Otherwise, it should be shelved. There is no legitimate reason for the media to run his rants.

The only problem with this, is the media can never be sure he isn't serious about acting on the crazy stuff he says.

But most of it is just air polkution.
 
Anytime Trump speaks, whether it's a news conference or some kind of appearance, the media should record it, and in the remote possibility should he makes any relevant policy proclamation, it should be shown. Otherwise, it should be shelved. There is no legitimate reason for the media to run his rants.

The only problem with this, is the media can never be sure he isn't serious about acting on the crazy stuff he says.

But most of it is just air polkution.
Agree, stop feeding the troll. Some outlets have stopped broadcasting his rallies. A good start since virtually nothing of value is said during them.
 
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