April 13, 2004
Tonight's press conference scripted questions and answers session
Author Ron Suskind on Dubya's press conferences:
For each press conference, the White House press secretary asks the reporters for their questions, selects six or seven of the questions to answer and those reporters are the only ones called upon to ask their questions during the press conference, Suskind said.This system makes it so that the president has answers already prepared for questions that he knows will be asked, Suskind said.
......Suskind also said that the White House uses intimidation to force writers into only writing favorable stories about the administration.
"If you write something the White House doesn't like, they take you in and say, 'If you ever write something like you did today, nobody from the White House will ever talk to you again,'" Suskind said. "(The White House is) pissed, and ... angry."
(Thanks to Atrios comment poster RedwoodGirl for the tip!)
Posted by Norwood at April 13, 2004 07:53 PMComments
