President Obama's Relationship with the Media

The relationships which individuals in society have with the media tend not only to be beneficial for their public image but also determine how powerful their influence is within that society. A good relationship with the media ensures that the opinions and the agenda of such an individual are widely propagated and the message which he is trying to get through to the public is delivered. In this paper, we shall look into the media relationship of President Barrack Obama and how it has helped him throughout his political career to eventually achieving and maintaining his popularity in the highest office of the United States. It has been noted that President Obama has continued to have a very good relationship with the media even after becoming president and this partly explains why he has remained very popular with most of the American public because the media tends to give very positive news concerning him.

One of the most effective tools which the President seems to have used for developing solid and lasting media relationships has been the background sessions with reporters where he has discussed his opinion of events with reporters off the record (Olsen, C, 2003). This has ensured that reporters have come to know him as an individual and consider him to be more down to earth than those politicians who tend to have a very impersonal relationship with reporters. As a consequence of this personal relationship with reporters, President Obama gets more coverage from the media than his political rivals and this has ensured his continued popularity with the American public because the media is one of the most powerful and influential institutions in the United States. Obama’s use of this institution has been very skillful especially considering many politicians consider it to be the enemy unless it is serving their own interests. Obama on the other hand has embraced the media, often using it to transmit his message to the public and as a tool for garnering public support for legislation that he backs in Congress (Kidwai, S, 2007).

Many would consider the President’s relationship with the media to be unhealthy due to the fact that were it not for the media, then he would not be as popular as he currently is. It can further be stated that the media is so much in favor of him that it may be tempted to only reveal the positive aspects of him and cover up any negative image that he may have (Rand, H, 1998). The great relationship he has with the media may also ensure that he gets his way in many matters concerning the governing of the United States and that the legislation he supports gets passed in Congress despite the fact that some o the legislation may be highly unpopular with the public. A good relationship with the media can give an individual unlimited power over those whom it has influence over and this is exactly what it has done for President Obama. Such power in the hands of an individual can be very dangerous to the democratic systems of the nation because in the hands of an individual, it can lead to a type of dictatorship which is not healthy for the people of the United States.