“Media events” are just theater, staged to give the appearance of a viable fourth estate.
Shown the Door at the White House
[…] About half way through the question, Mrs. Bush realized this was not a friendly softball being lobbed from the peanut gallery, but a real question with an agenda from the press gallery.
Mrs. Bush looked down and walked to her seat without a word. The smile was gone.
At that moment, White House staff formed a human wall between the press and the First Lady and pointed to the door.
One White House staffer told Plotkin he was out of line because the event was “about the kids.”
“My question WAS about the kids,” Plotkin fired back.
[…]
What has the 4th estate become when we attended a government press event that includes a press release, lights, microphones and all the accommodations needed for the press, yet it is somehow rude for us to ask a question?
A complacent spoon-fed press is not what the Founding Fathers had in mind when they left us the gift of the First Amendment.
So good for Plotkin and shame on the rest of us who sit by and watch.
h/t Americablog