An end to televised White House briefings?

ABC’s Ann Compton –a longtime member of the White House press corps– offers her perspective. In a society where traffic cameras and home video recorders document America as never before, the Bush White House is considering turning back the hands of time. The next casualty of the White House shakeup could be the televised daily press briefing. Sure it gets contentious… The departing press secretary Scott McClellan has defended the president’s policies against a backdrop of sinking approval ratings, a lingering war, firestorms over Dubai ports, lobbyists’ access, and the emotional divide over immigration. McClellan’s soft and scripted style has provoked increased aggression from reporters frustrated by the lack of answers. He accused one network correspondent of playing to the cameras. The glib and very telegenic new press secretary Tony Snow begs off as an “agnostic” on the issue which he will not have to face until he begins briefing next week. Several former press secretaries have expressed dismay that the televised sessions do appear to be more heat than light. They all miss the point. I saw my first contentious briefing as a college intern during the late hours of the Nixon presidency. Only the Clinton impeachment scandal came close to matching that hostility. What intervened in-between was a 24/7 news cycle and cable casts which air briefings extensively. But the three broadcast giants rarely use McClellan sound bites. Historically, no White House press secretary briefed on camera – leaving the President to be the voice and face of the administration. Under Reagan (Larry Speakes) and Bush41 (Marlin Fitzwater), cameras were allowed five minutes of cover footage without sound. Clinton (Dee Dee Myers) allowed some early camera coverage but it became routine only when Mike McCurry took to the podim — having come from the State Department where cameras had been welcomed since the Carter era. In the first presidency of the 21st Century, with a President who now courts better understanding with the American people, is it realistic to turn the cameras off? Check out a photo essay of the WH press briefing room here: [PHOTOS]