By Greg Hazley
President Barack Obama took questions from ABC News correspondents more than any other outlet during the 36 solo news conferences of his first term, according to a study by the Univ. of Minnesota’s Eric Ostermeier.
ABC got the call from Obama 29 times, followed by CBS (28), the Associated Press (27), NBC (26) and Bloomberg (20).
The New York Times was tops among newspapers at No. 7 (16 questions), while Fox News was at No. 9 (14 queries).
Fifty news outlets have received at least one question at Obama news conferences, according to the study.
Ostermeir found that NBC’s political chief Chuck Todd and ABC News White House correspondent Jake Tapper got the most chances to question Obama with 23 times each.
The analysis noted that Todd was able to parlay his time into 52 series of questions and follow-ups.
Meanwhile, Politico, citing a tally by Martha Joynt Kumar, reported that Obama held fewer press conferences – 79 -- than Presidents George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush during the same span. The study included joint appearances with foreign leaders.
George H.W. Bush held 143 pressers, followed by Clinton’s 133 during his first term. George W. Bush had 89, but Reagan appeared for only 27.
Obama drastically cut down on short Q&As with reporters, by comparison, holding only 107 such sessions compared to Clinton’s 612, George W. Bush’s 354 and George H.W. Bush’s 313. |