Presidents, Coverage of

Informed by prevailing understandings of an independent Fourth Estate, the founding fathers of the United States demonstrated their initial commitment to freedom of the press through their words and actions, contending that newspapers held a special place in American culture and affirming that place through the protections afforded in the Bill of Rights. Armed with these protections, reporters covering U.S. presidents have done so with a range of symbiotic and adversarial approaches rooted in individual and collective relationships with the sitting president.

While espousing their commitment to a free press, when encountering adverse coverage, most U.S. presidents, regardless of party affiliation, have experienced negative feelings about news coverage as a whole, within specific outlets, or produced by an individual reporter. Until recently most presidents have not ...