Does the Press Love or Fear Obama?

Probably both, according to this Politico article:

One of the enduring storylines of Barack Obama’s presidency, dating back to the earliest days of his candidacy, is that the press loves him.

“Most of you covered me. All of you voted for me,” Obama joked last year at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner.

But even then, only four months into his presidency, the joke fell flat. Now, a year later, with another correspondents’ dinner Saturday night likely to generate the familiar criticism of the press’s cozy relationship with power, the reality is even more at odds with the public perception.

President Obama and the media actually have a surprisingly hostile relationship – as contentious on a day-to-day basis as any between press and president in the last decade, reporters who cover the White House say.

Reporters say the White House is thin-skinned, controlling, eager to go over their heads and stingy with even basic information. All White Houses try to control the message. But this White House has pledged to be more open than its predecessors – and reporters feel it doesn’t live up to that pledge in several key areas:

— Day-to-day interaction with Obama is almost non-existent, and he talks to the press corps far less often than Bill Clinton or even George W. Bush did. Clinton took questions nearly every weekday, on average. Obama barely does it once a week.

— The ferocity of pushback is intense. A routine press query can draw a string of vitriolic emails. A negative story can draw a profane high-decibel phone call – or worse. Some reporters feel like they’ve been frozen out after crossing the White House.

— Except for a few reporters, Press Secretary Robert Gibbs can be distant and difficult to reach - even though his job is to be one of the main conduits from president to press. “It’s an odd White House where it’s easier to get the White House chief of staff on the phone than the White House press secretary,” one top reporter said.

— And at the very moment many reporters feel shut out, one paper - the New York Times - enjoys a favoritism from Obama and his staff that makes competitors fume, with gift-wrapped scoops and loads of presidential face-time.

“They seem to want close the book on the highly secretive years of the Bush administration. However, in their relationship with the press, I think they’re doing what they think succeeded in helping Obama get elected,” said the New Yorker’s George Packer.

The media never shied away from criticism of George W. Bush, even if it might draw a frosty response from the Press Secretary or Bush himself. Today, the White House Press Corps seems to live in fear of Obama, Rahm Emanuel and Gibbs, and their panic at the possibility of displeasing The One is reflected in their still glowing reporting. The press are a bunch of cowards when a Democrat is in office.

Bush saw the press as an annoyance, but didn't really consider them a threat.  His White House was careful with information because they didn't want others to set their agenda.

Obama sees the press as an arm of his administration, responsible for passing his message of hope, change, rainbows and unicorns to the ignorant masses.  Because he thinks they work for him he gets testy when they don't follow the company line.  And the reporters panic at the thought of losing favor with Obama and therefore losing that precious access to the throne.  It's a very unhealthy White House these days.