Journalism.co.uk Editors' Blog » White House

White House press secretary wouldn’t look to British papers for ’something that bordered on truthful news’

Judith Townend — Fri, 29 May 2009 13:01:08 +0000

A video from Politico, which shows Robert Gibbs, the White House press secretary, responding to a question about a Daily Telegraph report ’showing photographs of U.S. soldiers abusing Iraqi prisoners that include images of rape and sexual abuse’. Politico’s Michael Calderone reports:

“Gibbs not only reminded the press corps that the Pentagon denied the report but used the opportunity to take shots at the British press.

“‘I want to speak generally about some reports I’ve witnessed over the past few years in the British media,’ Gibbs said. ‘In some ways, I’m surprised it filtered down.’

“‘Let’s just say if I wanted to look up, if I wanted to read a write-up of how Manchester United fared last night in the Champions League Cup, I might open up a British newspaper,” he continued. ‘If I was looking for something that bordered on truthful news, I’m not entirely sure it’d be the first pack of clips I’d pick up.’”

Video below, and Telegraph’s Nile Gardiner responding here: ‘Robert Gibbs should apologise to the British press for his sneering rant’. (hat tip: Martin Stabe)

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Obama’s first 100 days: how the web is covering it

Laura Oliver — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 16:08:52 +0000

Some great multimedia coverage as US President Barack Obama completes his first 100 days in power.

The Washington Post has set up a ’special package’ to mark the day – complete with videos, more than 300 photos arranged by topic (see below) and an interactive timeline of the period – with symbols marking the days key legislation was introduced.

(The Post has used Daylife previously to organise its photos – for example during the Olympics last year – so I’m wondering whether that’s the case here too.)

Similarly, the LA Times has its own 100 days site with the emphasis on readers’ views. The Times asked commuters for their video thoughts on Obama’s progress so far.

What I like in particular about this effort is the ability to filter videos by policy and the interactive calendar that dominates the top of the page – click on any date from the 100 for more information.

It’s a very clean layout with a nice feed of LA Times’ related articles too.

The White House is getting in on the act too with its own Flickr group of images depicting the start of the presidency.

Any more good examples of coverage?

UPDATE April 30:

Am reliably informed by Daylife that they’re not behind the Times’ photos – it’s being done internally – but their technology has had a hand in the Wall Street Journal’s coverage, which pulls together video, relevant articles, images and create interactive graphics.

Also enjoyed Slate highlighting the 100 days on Obama’s Facebook feed.

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Bush gives first online interview to Yahoo

Laura Oliver — Tue, 13 May 2008 09:13:16 +0000

US President George W. Bush will give his first online interview later today in a collaboration between political website The Politico and Yahoo News.

Bush will be questioned on camera by The Politico’s Mike Allen, who will go behind-the-scenes at the White House and ask questions on a ‘colorful mix of serious policy-related topics, and some personal questions’, a release on the site said.

The video will be available on Yahoo News’ homepage from Tuesday afternoon (EDT) with a full transcript on Politico.

“This interview is a natural progression in political news coverage, mirroring the change in the habits of Americans, who are increasingly turning online for their news,” said Alan Warms, vice president and general manager of Yahoo News, in the release.

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