Donald Trump feels that he is in a “running war” with the media, and one of his top advisors believes that the media are the “opposition party.”
There is not much news in that. Presidential administrations have always viewed the media as opponents that needed to be bested. At the same time, the two sides depend on one another, in one case to get the message out and in the other as a source of material that fuels the entire operation.
{mosads}What is different, however, is the degree of apparent antagonism between the two sides. President Trump says that the members of the media are “among the most dishonest people on earth” and media leaders think that the president is perverting the truth.
Doing battle with the media has deep historical roots, with each side trying to use the other to best advantage. One of the key historical variables is technology. President Franklin Roosevelt, a paraplegic who couldn’t walk, used the radio, just coming into its own as a national source of news, to speak directly to the people. He could be conveniently out of sight, so that his awkward efforts to reach the podium were hidden from the American people, just like his disability was.
His resonant voice and confident patrician tone made him a radio natural.
Of course, the media played along with the president’s deception. The two sides agreed that the president’s use of a wheelchair or the heavy metal braces on his legs should not be objects of national discussion. Both the media and the president reinforced the image of a strong national leader.
John F. Kennedy faced the problem that most of the editorial boards of the still-very influential print media did not approve of his liberal agenda. He took the approach of holding televised news conferences, so that his natural charm and wit reached the nation’s living rooms.
The media went along to the extent of playing straight man for his jokes and asking the questions that the president wanted asked. Before this time, the press needed the president’s permission to quote him directly.
The stylized approach reached its apex with President Reagan, a former radio and television performer.
His administration exploited the president’s photogenic looks to put him in front of the media with a script in his hand that reinforced the theme that the administration wanted to impart on that particular day. The president did not like to ad lib. He felt more comfortable with a script. As often as not, he gave a very convincing performance.
Presidential administrations have always tried to feed the media. In Franklin Roosevelt’s day, the press office was very aware of the deadlines for the morning and the afternoon papers and tried to make nice with the commentators who had daily radio programs. By the Kennedy administration, the evening news on television became the main event.
Now, in the era of Twitter and cable news, news breaks at any time of the day, and the media make special efforts to fan controversy so as to retain viewer interest. A media that once could be convinced to hold a story for reasons of national security now strives to get the story behind the story.
The key historical moment in the newly adversarial relationship was Watergate, when the press believed that the president deliberately lied to them. Now, in an effort to expose the truth, things once considered out of bounds, such as sexual dalliances and patches of senility or drunkenness became fair game. President Nixon, every bit as much as President Trump, believed that the press was his enemy.
Still, even though the two sides fought with one another, there was often the sense that, at the end of the day, the two parties might share a drink or meet up at the same social functions. After all, they traveled in similar circles.
So far this behind the scenes camaraderie has not developed in the Trump administration. This president seems to have particularly thin skin. Yet there remains the hope that both sides will become accustomed to one another other based on the simple truth that neither can avoid the other.
Ed Berkowitz is a professor of history and public policy at George Washington University and teaches a course on the presidency. His email is ber@gwu.edu.
The views of contributors are their own and not the views of The Hill.