Richard Benedetto speaks at EI event
By Bethany Foxx, Staff Writer
On Thursday, Feb. 14 Former White House Correspondent Richard Benedetto gave a guest lecture titled “Media, Politics, and Presidential Communications” in CUB 260.
Benedetto is an adjunct professor at American University and worked as a White House Correspondent to administrations including Reagan, H. W. Bush, Clinton and W. Bush.
The Eisenhower Institute (E.I.) sponsored lecture began with a welcome from E.I. Undergraduate Fellows Seniors Anthony Palmer and Colin Gorman. Professor Shirley Warshaw then introduced Benedetto, referring to him as one of the nation’s premiere journalists.
Benedetto is a self-described fan and scholar of the American Presidency. He began the lecture with a personal anecdote describing the reason for which he became interested in politics at a young age.
“I was taught that you respect the office,” stated Benedetto, “You can write a tough story, but not from a partisan angle […] You represent the people and write fairly.”
Benedetto discussed the media in regards to Obama’s presidency. He began by displaying Gallup Poll numbers that showed President Obama’s job approval rating since the beginning of his presidency, which currently hovers at 52 percent. He then evaluated the polling data, highlighting particular points where current events impacted the numbers.
He also described an exit poll that was taken during the 2012 Presidential Election that asked voters whether their lives had been better, the same or worse since President Obama took office. One third of voters said better, one third of voters said the same and one third of voters said worse.
“That’s one of the reasons why Obama won the White House,” stated Benedetto, “Those who voted their lives were better or the same voted for him, and the voters that said their lives were worse voted for Romney.”
Benedetto stated that it is the Obama Administration’s strategy to maintain a job approval rating around 50 percent. He also stated that in terms of public opinion, domestic policy counts significantly more than foreign policy.
He proceeded to speak about what President Obama’s media team has done to promote and protect his image.
“All White Houses seek to control the message and manage the media and this White House does it better than most,” he said. “That said, as a journalist, you have to be a step ahead of the White House.”
He said that Obama strives to be out there, staging daily events that are centered on a particular theme for the media to cover. Obama has “carefully selected times, themes, forums, topics and interviews” that allow for the outlet in which the President is interviewed to be controlled and limited. The current president has not had many press conferences during his time in office, due to the unpredictability of open questions.
During the Obama Administration there has been a shift in the relationship between the media and the White House. Somewhat recently, the White House has revised their strategy by approaching news outlets instead of the traditional method of having news outlets seek out the White House.
Benedetto went on to share some of his experiences while interviewing presidents, stating that it is intimidating to interview the president in the Oval Office, especially if the president is sitting behind his desk.
“Give people information and let them decide what to do with it,” Benedetto said, “The more people that can ask public officials questions, the better.”
As a founding member of USA Today, Benedetto shared his thoughts about the recent changes to the paper and took questions from the audience.
Palmer appreciated Benedetto’s informed reflections on political communications.
“Mr. Benedetto is a veteran White House correspondent, and the in-depth analysis he provided to our audience was only further proof of this,” Palmer said. “We got a much deeper look into the subtleties, nuances and complexities of the White House persuasion operation.”
Palmer also said that the speaker brought to light the changing face of news and inspired the lecture attendees to analyze media and political communication.
“I left the lecture with a new lens through which to critically assess and scrutinize the media’s coverage of White House policies — be it drones, immigration or the debt ceiling,” he said. “Mr. Benedetto helped us to see past the horse race coverage and strive for substance.”
Ciara O’Connor contributed to this story.
