Constructing the News: The President, the Press, and the Pandemic

• In Event: Media in the Time of COVID

Abstract

News coverage results from a dynamic interaction among government officials, experts and reporters. The process is both symbiotic and competitive. Government needs the press to convey information to the public while reporters need government to provide content for their viewers. Press briefings, including those that occurred at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S., are a case in point. Each player seeks to frame the news to meet its goals. When there are competing frames, the public may choose among them. In the case of COVID-19, the availability of competing narratives about the danger posed by virus was perilous for the public. This paper examines the role of the press during the daily COVID-19 press briefings which occurred throughout 2020. We draw upon theories of constructionism, newsworthiness, and journalistic practice to analyze publicly available transcripts of the news conferences, to identify informational content, and to illuminate the relationship between the President and specific outlets or reporters.

Some media researchers have characterized the relationship between official voices and the press as “adversarial”, while others describe the press as mere “stenographers” of official remarks. It is fair to say that the power of the press to control the narrative varies by topic. Foreign affairs and intelligence are under greater government control (but see Entman 2004) and domestic affairs has more press involvement because of greater access to a variety of sources. Press briefings give journalists an opportunity to pose questions to officials and to challenge or expand on their preferred interpretation of issues. The COVID-19 pandemic was an area of vital interest to the public and the briefings had a wide audience. How did the press handle its role of interlocutor. Did the press take an active role in the narrative? Did it fulfill its reputed goal of enhancing the information provided to the public? Or was the press preoccupied with enhancing individual reputations and asking “gotcha” questions, as some have proposed. The briefings provided the President with an opportunity to reach millions of Americans and served as a replacement for rallies that President Trump was unable to hold during the early stages of the pandemic. This particular president had a history of animosity towards the press, which he often called “the fake news”. In turn, the press was wary of a president who previously demonstrated rampant disregard for uncomfortable truths. The Washington Post fact checker database reported on January 20, 2021 that the President had made 30,573 lies while in office (Washington Post Fact Checker, 2021).

We have previously researched the content of presidential remarks during daily COVID-19 press briefings (Just et al. 2020). The general content of President Trump’s remarks and answers during the press briefings can be summed up as “we have the pandemic greatly under control.” Reporters’ questions broadly came under the rubric of “how you are going to control the problem, specifically.” Taken together, this approach is broadly informative, unless the President ducks , or the press fails to follow-up. Because the press is not united, and, in fact, is highly competitive for viewers, and because some outlets are highly partisan, it is almost impossible for members of the press to coordinate their functions -- even given the serious concerns about the pandemic. Questions inevitably sway from the topic of the briefings to take advantage of the opportunity to question the President. And, the President also wants to change the topic to highlight issues with which he feels more comfortable. News outlets, therefore, offered different versions of how things were going and the public was able to find the most congenial version of the situation. The result was a varied response to expert calls for simple measures to prevent the spread of the virus. The U.S. achieved the worst record of managing the virus to date, with one-quarter of the world’s cases.

References:
Entman, Robert. (2003) “Cascading Activation: Contesting the White House's Frame After 9/11”, Political Communication, 20:4, 415-432, DOI: 10.1080/10584600390244176

Just, Marion, Joseph Saraceno, and Ann Crigler. “Presidential Home Style: Trump in the Era of COVID-19.” The Forum 18 (3), 2020. https://doi.org/10.1515/for-2020-2013

Washington Post Fact Checker. January 22, 2021. https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/politics/trump-claims-database/?itid=lk_inline_manual_4

Authors

• Ann N. Crigler, University of Southern California

• Marion R. Just, Wellesley College

• Joseph Saraceno, University of Southern California