It was a mixed message from the Old Media establishment at the President’s December 19 news conference about the newest “crisis” he is pushing. As Obama appeared before America to talk about the gun “crisis” and his decision to hand it off to Joe Biden, instead of asking about Obama’s gun agenda, the media deluged him with questions about the fiscal cliff.
It was so odd that even other members of the media criticized their brethren for ignoring what the press conference was called for and instead going off on tangents during the Q & A period.
Obama called his press conference to announce his new anti-gun agenda. But one might question the President’s dedication to the effort. After all, Obama put Joe Biden in charge, proving that he isn’t really that interested in the whole thing. Regardless, that was the main topic of the presser.
Interestingly, as soon as Obama’s statements were through, when the media joined the question and answer time, of the many questions asked only two or so were about Obama’s gun agenda. Most were about the country’s financial woes.
Huffington Post and Piers Morgan Tweeted their disdain for the press corps. So did Radhika Jones, and Media Matters hack Eric Boehlert.
Piers Morgan’s Tweet was typical of the criticism: “White House press corps message to the world: ‘We don’t care about gun control’. Shameful.”
A hashtag joke even started up ridiculing the press for its off topic questions. Check out #DCPressQuestions on Twitter for some of the latest zingers.
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