Analysis of Press Conferences

Analysis of Press Conferences
One of the most interesting features to observe in any presidency in America is the White House Press Corps and how the President’s use of press conferences has changed over time. From President Clinton days to Obama’s today, the conference continues to be a key segment of engaging with the public and journalists (Soha).
In all three press conferences cited in this essay, the opening statement sets the tone. In addition, each of the three presidents uses press conferences in a way that it suits him. For example, President Obama is known for his question evasion skills, and he capitalizes on this in his conferences (Walsh, 2012). This is typical of the modern press conference whereby journalists play a second role to the president.
As Walsh K. T. observes, presidential press conferences are very different from the times of Sam Donaldson and Helen Thomas (2012). Nowadays, the White House Press Corps only seem to be assertive in their questioning if there is a major crisis in the country, as witnessed on April 30, 2013. Although the President was on the defensive in this press conference, there was a measure of questions avoidance (Walsh, 2012).
Differences emerge if focus is on assertiveness of questions asked by the White House Press Corps. Consider a question that a journalist asked William J. Clinton on January 29, 1993 press conference about gays in the military (Peters G. & Woolley J. T., 1993). Question: “Mr. President, yesterday a Federal court in California said that the military ban on homosexuals was unconstitutional. Will you direct the navy and the Justice Department not to appeal the decision? (Peters G. & Woolley J. T., 1993) In all the three press conferences, the type of questions asked depends on the issue at hand.
Interestingly, in all conferences, the presidents are effective in turning around a question to their advantage. In President William’s case, the journalist posed an initiative type of question, which gave the president the leeway to enhance his policies, and probably his popularity as well. Moreover, considering the liberty of the president to choose a journalist, (Soha) it might not surprise to find more of such journalists in press confe...