New president, new questioners: Meet the (new) press

By GottaLaff

Because the media snuggled up with Little Georgie Bush for so long, my money is on the "new" press overcompensating and making every attempt to nail Obama as often and as hard as they can. Key word: Overcompensating:

When incoming press secretary Robert Gibbs approaches the podium in the White House Briefing Room, a new cast of notebook-clutching, laptop-tapping reporters will be there to greet him as the five biggest news networks are all switching up their chief White House correspondents to cover the 44th president.

The new faces will be Chuck Todd (NBC), Jake Tapper (ABC), Chip Reid (CBS) and Ed Henry (CNN). Although Fox News hasn’t named a replacement for Bret Baier — who just took over “Special Report” — the betting money in Washington is on correspondent Major Garrett, who covered the Obama campaign. While all the correspondents played significant roles during the 2008 election, their White House experience varies from several years to none at all.

With surveys showing the public believes Barack Obama received easier coverage during the campaign, coupled with lingering criticism of how the White House press corps dropped the ball as the Bush administration made the case for invading Iraq, the incoming group has a few hurdles to overcome.

Overall, it's not a bad team. But I have this nagging suspicion that they'll feel obligated to be more aggressive, whether it's warranted or not. I may be wrong, it's just a gut feeling.

Not that tough questions are a bad thing, far from it. I'd just hate to see gratuitous gotchas rather than fair, dispassionate, and thoughtful journalism.

This quote from Ed Henry was somewhat reassuring:

Asked about the perception that Obama has had easy treatment from the press so far, Henry warns against overcompensating: “We can’t turn every nit-picky thing into Watergate.”

Thank you.

For background on each of the reporters, go here.