The end of presidential access journalism in the US

David Remnick writing for the New Yorker about Trump’s meeting the the US press:

“But he truly doesn’t seem to understand the First Amendment,” the source continued. “He doesn’t. He thinks we are supposed to say what he says and that’s it.”

Trump’s experience is as a CEO, not a political leader. Sounds like he’s treating the country as a company, and expecting the press to be his comms department. That’s not how it works.

But there’s something more fundamental at work here, too. Trump’s presidency will almost certainly make a pause in political access journalism, because he much prefers speaking direct.

Obama paved the way here – he understood the role of social media in crafting and spreading his image. But Trump takes it a step further, using social media both as a comms tool, and as a distraction:

But what happens if the president intentionally misdirects the media by taking about trivialities?

I suspect, unless the US media unlearns its habit of reaction in a pavlovian manner to each outrageous Tweet from the president-elect, that we’re about to find out.