Press is the most effective way of conveying information to the public as it contains the features of being fast and timely and the information reaches a large audience at a time. The relationship between presidency and press is crucial because a press gives a platform over which the president or a presidential candidate can express himself or herself in building his or her public image so as to portray what kind of a leader he is.
The president’s press is so important because it creates an avenue over which the president communicates to the public as their leader in satisfying the public anxiety over the operations of the government. In the presidential press conferences, a president is expected to address issues of national concern and more especially matters that have been on dews headlines in the recent past(Cater, 27). The way in which he addresses these issues in the press is what classifies him as either a strong or a weak president (Cater 25). The public confidence in the president is built by the president’s press realizes, where the quality of the president’s argument determines the confidence. Therefore it can be deduced that the press is an important factor that determines the nature of the relationship that exists between the president and the public. The president’s comments over the media are likely to provoke the public’s anxiety and from the analysis of the public reaction the president will make the right decision so as to satisfy the public demands, thus press conferences can be perceived as loud thinking by the president (Cater 44). It is arguable that the president is using the press in assessing the public opinion is him taking the right step toward meeting the demands of the public (Winfield 407).
The press can be perceived as a means of putting the president in check over his actions because he is expected to explain certain issues that relate to the operations of the government, and this is mostly possible when the press is given all the mandate to determine the kind of questions to be addressed during the president’s news conference. The president is expected to account for various issues that are happening within the government during the press realizes. In some situations, the president might be feeling offended on being asked some questions from the press and mostly in questions that he does not have satisfactory answers and ignoring to answer them is certain to taint his public image (Cater 37). Such situations are likely to make the president have a negative attitude towards media, regarding the media that reports things against him as being bad and liking the press that reports positive things about him (Winfield 405). The president may also feel offended when private life and more especially nasty actions form headlines in newspapers, televisions, and news broadcasts because he may be feeling the information being unnecessary reaching the public, therefore a president is compelled to work hard against odds on either in public issues or private matters (Cater 30). For the press to perform its roles, it is expected to take a neutral stand, that is it should report issues exactly the way in which they are. A strong and perfect president is the one who can withstand these checks of which he might feel quite unnecessary sometimes but they have to be there as the press is there to inform the public in satisfying their curiosity as the president communicates to the public through the press.
The president’s ability can not be evaluated by the public if there happens to be inaccurate reporting. Inaccurate reporting will feed the public with propaganda that does not reflect on what is really happening on the ground. The president’s image will be portrayed in a wrong way compared to the president himself and in this case, the president’s relationship will be constrained in the press reports negative things about him of which is not the case. However, this situation is avoidable given the current technological developments which provide live coverage and also the use of direct quotes in the case of broadcasting, which makes it impossible for inaccurate reporting (cater 40).
The press normally plays a great role in building up the president to be among the presidential candidates, as it’s used as a campaigning tool where various presidential candidates are given chance to air their views over what they intend to do for the citizens ( Ponder 173). The citizens are supplied with information over the qualities of each and every candidate in the presidential race and the one who perfectly represents himself as a leader will likely make it for the presidency, this press is a stage in which a president exposes his qualities as a good leader in comparison to other potential presidential candidates. Ronald Reagan defeated Jimmy Carter for Presidency in 1980 just because of the way in which Reagan expressed himself to the public through the press, which made him the public choice (Griscom 399). Therefore leadership is all about good communication because communication techniques normally determine the ability to lead (Griscom 303). Press offers the president an opportunity to prove that he is a strong leader and this is through the way in which he expresses his ideas and also the kind of reasoning contained in him concerning national issues. Thus the press exposes the president as a leader and this does not end on being elected as a president but it goes on for the rest of his stay in the statehouse. The president’s role as a leader is reinforced by media on him also working with Statehouse staff and the cabinet ( Griscom 339).
The president’s honesty as a good leader is contained in the press coverage and thus any attempt to interfere with the president’s press relation there occurs a risk of there being propaganda because the president might opt to establish his own televisions station that he will use to spread propaganda by having early prepared questions on which he will answer to blackmail the citizens. Therefore a constrained relationship needs to exist between the president and the press so as to enable accurate information to reach the public.
There is a strong relationship between the presidency and the press in the sense that the press has the power to present the president’s public image. The press presents the president as a leader an and it normally keeps check on the president’s excesses by making the information available to the public. Leadership is all about communication and thus the president’s leadership qualities depend on his expression on the press.
Work Cited
Winfield Betty. Presidency and the Press: Franklin D. Roosevelt and Truman. Rout ledge. New York. 2008.
Cater Douglas. The President and the Press. Hough ton Mifflin. Boston. 1959.
Ponder Stephen. That Delightful Relationship: Presidents and White House Correspondents in the 1920s. American Journalism. US. 1997.
Griscom Thomas. Presidential Communication: An Essential Leadership Tool. Gordon Hoxie. New. 1989.