Managing The Press

Managing the Press re-examines the emergence of the 20th century media president, whose authority to govern depends largely on his ability to generate public support by appealing to the citizenry through the news media. From 1897 to 1933, White House successes and failures with the press established a foundation for modern executive leadership and helped to shape patterns of media practices and technologies through which Americans have viewed the presidency during most of the 20th century. Author Stephen Ponder shows how these findings suggest a new context for contemporary questions about mediated public opinion and the foundations of presidential power, the challenge to the presidency by an increasingly adversarial press, the emergence of “new media” formats and technologies, and the shaping of presidential leadership for the 21st century. Managing the Press explores the rise of the media presidency through the lens of the late 20th century, when the relationship between the president and the press is relevant to more important issues than ever before in the context of American politics.

Re-examines the emergence of the twentieth century media President, whose authority to govern depends largely on his ability to generate public support by appealing to the citizenry through the news media.

Library Journal

This examination of the origins of the "media presidency" provides a useful and balanced explanation of how the presidency--with the help of "new media"--grabbed center stage in the American political drama. Focusing on the formative years 1897-1933, Ponder (journalism, Univ. of Oregon) demonstrates how presidents, through trial and error, developed strategies for attracting media attention (and with it, power) away from Congress. By attracting the focus of the media, presidents were able to shift the balance of power in favor of the presidency. Because of "the president's demonstrated ability to upstage Congress," the new media were used to place the president at center stage both politically and symbolically. Thorough and readable, this work is indispensable for those wishing to understand how the symbiotic (if often strained) relationship between the media and the presidency has developed over time.--Michael A. Genovese, Loyola Marymount Univ., Los Angeles

Stephen Ponder is Associate Professor of Journalism and Communication at the University of Oregon. For ten years he worked as a journalist for regional and national news organizations, and also served as a congressional press secretary.