Feeding the beast

Avoiding single-minded laments on the shortcomings of the presidency or the failings of the press, Feeding the Beast is an evenhanded though often damning critique of the relationship between the White House and the news media, a relationship that can create more problems than it solves. For an informed electorate and an enlightened citizenry, few institution are more important than the presidency and the mainstream media, and here Kenneth T. Walsh, a senior White House correspondent for U.S. News & World Report, candidly reports how ordinary citizens are the biggest losers in the current state of affairs. The widespread practice of "spin doctoring," the willingness on the part of the White House to mislead the press, overly interpretive reporting, and "gotcha" journalism do more to distort reality than illuminate it. . Starting with George Washington, Walsh shows how Presidents and presidential candidates have repeated the same mistakes in dealing with the press from the beginning of the Republic. As the national media have grown over time into a voracious beast demanding to be fed, they have lost sight of their fundamental mission of presenting the world in a straightforward and comprehensive way to viewers, listeners, and readers. Too often, Walsh asserts, the press suffers from four basic flaws: injecting too much attitude into stories, assuming an overly negative approach to all news, rushing to judgment, and ignoring the values of Middle America. Walsh is able not only to point out the chronic problems, but also to examine how this crucial nexus for an involved electorate has become so contaminated that ordinary citizens no longer trust either the media or their elected officials.