So apparently the AP and NYT decided they couldn't share the picture of the President and Sasha in the water in the Gulf because THEY didn't take the pictures. They claim that they can't even trust that the picture is REALLY of President Obama in the Gulf. They "claim" it's about "transparency".
What a crock of bullshit. You wanted him to get in the damn water, he got in the damn water, and now you want to pout because you didn't get to take the picture of him in the damn water? Seriously? Get over yourselves. The LAST time the press too pics of President Obama/his family in/around water we ended up with pictures of his youngest daughter in a bathing suit all over the place when they weren't even there for official business. I thought the pics of her in her bathing suit out of the water were unnecessary. He is the President, and his family members are PRIVATE CITIZENS, and we all know they want the girls to have as normal a life as possible given the circumstances. Be happy you got A photo. See, this is why this WH is skeptical of the Press. It's an official WH photo, WHY would they LIE about where the photo was taken? It's easy enough to verify.
I don't even see how NOT letting the media get its jollies by taking tons of pics of the family in their bathing suits walking around on the beach is a lack of "transparency." What is transparent here is that the press doesn't realize that even the "legit" news orgs act like tabloids these days. I wouldn't have let them take pictures either.
Here's a suggestion, stop acting like paparazzi/tabloid news orgs, and maybe they'll stop treating you as such.
I'll try to find a transcript of the vid.
Oh, and this is a small rant, no need to rec but feel free to rant with me in the comments. LOL
Update [2010-8-15 16:16:13 by Muzikal203]:] Working on rough transcript, here's part of the relevant part:
Host: The other story that’s getting some attention is President Obama who is spending the weekend in the Florida Gulf Coast, this is a picture from the front page of the New York Daily News, a picture we should point out released by the White House Photographer. There were no independent photographers allowed to show the President swimming in the Gulf Coast. And joining us with more perspective is Julie Pace from the Associated Press. She is in Panama City Florida. Thanks very much for being with us.
Pace: Thank you for having me
Host: Well first of all, what is the news that cam e out of this, or is it more a photo opportunity for President Obama.
Pace: Well, it’s really a photo opportunity part of this trip, which was billed as a Presidential vacation with his family, is really about showing an image to the American people of a safe, clean, Gulf Coast. Uh, what we didn’t see though was the President getting in the water. There’s an official photo that was released by the White House, they did not let the media get near him during this dip in the Gulf. So, it’s a little interesting that the one image that they really wanted to see is the one image that a lot of people aren’t going to see because certain News Organizations including my own don’t release these hand out photos from the White House.
Host: and the NYT also not releasing that photograph, but it is the front page of the New York Daily News. What is the significance between having a White House photographer take this picture and not an independent photographer from the NYT, AP, or some other news organization?
Pace: Well there’s two things here. One, is the issue of simple transparency. This is the White House that has billed themselves as the most transparent White House possibly ever and, if they, if they just hand us an image we don’t really know where the President was, we just have to take them at their word. The second is a little bit humorous if you remember back to when the President took a trip to Hawaii after the Presidential election in 2008, there was photos of him that was captured of him on the beach shirtless in Hawaii that ran in a lot of tabloids and there was some joking that the President wanted to avoid that, and by handing us one photo of him deep in the water we don’t get a chance to see him shirtless on the beach.
Then they talked about it only being a 27 hour trip while they were spending a lot more time in other places. Then they talked about the mosque. Then back to the photo
Host: Let me just conclude with another look at this photograph from inside the Daily News and the headline is "Bare-chested Pres. Did not Meet the Press For the Gulf Dip." Does this photograph accomplish what the White House set out to achieve?
Pace: We’ll have to see. A lot of people that I’ve talked to here who are local residents, local officials, say this is going to be a long term restoration effort to get this tourism industry back up. When you go further towards Louisiana and Mississippi they’re still dealing with the hit their tourism is taking since Katrina so whether one photo can really bring back an entire industry remains to be seen. Um, but these people are hoping that they’ll see more photos like that and more people down here as a result of this trip.
Now correct me if I'm wrong, but hasn't the AP and other "news organizations" used other photos released by the WH? Like pics from the Situation Room?