Obama and the Media

Media/Obama

The Media and Obama

Since the day President Barack Obama took office, the media interest in him has been intense. As the first African-American president, he was already an anomaly, and then he got involved in things like social media, which is not traditionally the realm of the leader of the free world (Maraniss, 25). Currently, Obama makes use of both traditional (mainstream) and alternative media and news sources. With a Twitter account and a Facebook page, Obama is able to reach out to his supporters and to the entire country in more personal ways than he can do through mainstream sources (Lewin). He still does his radio addresses and the televised events that people are used to seeing with U.S. presidents, and he speaks to the media often through photo opportunities and the granting of interviews. That is commonly seen in the presidency, and expected. However, Obama goes beyond that with his use of social media. While it is true that he is not always the one posting information on social media sites, his campaign has hired people to do this, and is careful with the messages they are allowed to post.

Obama is most effective with social media instead of traditional media, for two reasons. First, he is able to reach out to the public much more than he can through traditional channels, and it feels more personable and friendly. It is a way to connect, instead of just providing information. Second, social media accounts are for the people who have them, and those people can post whatever they want to post. They are not "spun" by media they gave interviews to, and they do not have an agenda other than the one created by the person or organization that holds the social media account. In other words, when the Obama Administration posts to something like Facebook or Twitter, it can post whatever it wants, and the media cannot adjust it or take it out of context in the same way they would be able to do with something like an in-person interview. The 42.4 million Twitter followers (@BarackObama) Obama has clearly shows that people are interested in what he has to say, and that they are paying attention -- which is something they may not be as interested in doing with traditional media.

Whether Obama's use of the media is impacting his presidency in a positive or negative manner is hard to determine, because supporters and those who do not like Obama are both very vocal about their feelings for him. One thing is clear, though, in that Obama is reaching out to people in ways that have never been seen before, and that is allowing more people to learn about him and his presidency, and to form opinions of him so they can make decisions about whether they are going to give their support to him or whether they will work for change in other ways (Lewin). The number of people who follow him on social media, however, may indicate a positive for the Obama Administration, as he clearly has many people who are at least interested in what he has to say, whether or not they actually support him. Some of these people who follow him may be doing so looking for things to complain about, but that also has an impact on his term as president.