Snubbing press unwise choice for Obama

You don't have to be in this business long to make someone angry. It comes with the timecard.

How those people handle their anger, however, says a lot about how they regard the constitutional guarantee of a free press.

Former Salt Lake Mayor Rocky Anderson once refused interviews with this newspaper for several weeks. In contrast, when I was a reporter covering her office, former Salt Lake Mayor Deedee Corradini would grab a city administrator or two and confront me directly with problems.

The latter approach is uncomfortable, but it clears the air and keeps open lines of communication.

The first approach, however, sends two messages. One is that reporters lacking favor will be punished. The other is to all other reporters about what might happen if they don't report things exactly as the politician wants.

Unfortunately, it is this approach we're now seeing from the Obama White House.

For several weeks, administration officials have been attacking Fox News, calling it an illegitimate news organization. This campaign involves people as high up as chief of staff Rahm Emanuel and communications director Anita Dunn, who ought to spend their time on important things. The president won't appear on Fox, as he has on other networks.

Fox isn't the only target. The administration has attacked the Chamber of Commerce and the insurance industry, as well. Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., calls this the beginning of an "enemies list," such as Richard Nixon once had.

The overall strategy seems to be to isolate and discredit the administration's opponents, but there is a far greater principle at stake.

It's not my intent to defend everything Fox broadcasts. I dislike talking heads on both sides of the political spectrum. They all seem intent on polarizing, rather than finding solutions. I'm also aware of the accusations of racism and other offenses from some commentators. That has no bearing on this. Leaders who really want to unite people accomplish a lot more by reaching out, even confronting head-to-head, than by lobbing grenades.

I agree with Baltimore Sun television critic David Zurawik, who wrote on his blog last week, "I am fundamentally opposed to any administration trying to bully any part of the press into submission as this one is doing." He also is upset at the hypocrisy of criticizing Fox for emphasizing opinion journalism, when MSNBC does the same.

The difference, of course, is that MSNBC tends to support the president.