In an attempt to gain attention and prestige, Boston University’s Washington Journalism Center sponsored a panel discussion featuring White House personnel and journalists covering President George Bush during his first 100 days in office.
According to Linda Killian, director of the BU Washington journalism program, the panelists were the “best people we could possibly get to talk about this issue of media coverage.” The presence of Deputy Assistant to the President Tucker Eskew, Killian said, “ensured that it would be a good event, and that working journalists in Washington would want to be there.”
“Because this Bush White House is extraordinarily disciplined, this press conference was a chance for reporters to ask him questions,” Killian said.
Interest in the first 100 days of a presidency started with President Franklin Roosevelt during the Great Depression, Killian said.
“Ever since then, it’s become sort of a standard in Washington to cover the first 100 days, and in order to grab some attention for the Center, and add something to the public discourse, we decided to investigate how the media handled President George W. Bush during his first 100 days,” she said.
In the course of the discussion, the panelists discussed the tight control of Bush’s White House, with limited access and tight photo opportunities, and compared their discipline to that of Ronald Reagan’s administration.
“A number of people raised the issue of Bush’s not winning the popular vote, and questioned why that issue had faded away so quickly,” Killian said. “It was discussed how the slack over Bill Clinton’s pardons detracted attention from the Bush White House.”
Panelist Robert Dallek, author and Boston University professor, offered a historical perspective, speaking about how other presidents have handled their relationship with the media.
Questions were directed at Eskew about the fact that Bush has governed a lot more conservatively than he ran, particularly concerning his environmental decisions, Killian said.
Joe Lockhart, press secretary to former President Bill Clinton, contended the press has gone easy on Bush, while Eskew defended most of White House policies.
BU’s Washington journalism program began last semester under the direction of Killian, who founded the program. “It was my idea to combine an internship with work in the newsroom,” she said.
Students in the program work as interns in the D.C. bureaus of national news organizations such as The Wall Street Journal, People Magazine, Newsday, National Public Radio and Fortune Magazine.
In addition, Killian teaches a course in political reporting, and national journalists offer seminars and guest lectures throughout the semester.
Nine students were chosen by Killian to participate in the program last semester, and nine more are currently in Washington as part of the program. The selected students are mainly seniors and graduate students at BU, along with a few juniors.
According to Jeff White, a graduate student at BU, the press conference was “better than we had planned.”
“We had a great group of experienced journalists and political administration workers with interesting things to say,” White said. “This experience was so vast that everyone had something to draw from it.”
“There’s been a lot of buzz as we approach the 100th day, and Linda [Killian] came up with the idea to work with this panel,” said COM junior Jessica Schneider. “It was really exciting to be five feet away from these really important people.”
Killian called the program a “tremendous opportunity,” and said her goal is to do one program similar to yesterday’s press conference per semester. The discussion was aired live on C-Span 2 yesterday from 9:30-11 a.m. C-Span will replay the program several times this week.
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