NOTE: Due to this morning’s announcement we’ve greatly updated today’s earlier post, completely retitled it and moved it to the top of the site. Please note that there are newer posts underneath this one, so keep scrolling down.
Yesterday we reported that Fox News‘ Tony Snow was “likely” to accept a White House offer to become the new press spokesman. Last night the Washington Post‘s Howard Kurtz reports that Snow has accepted it — and the formal announcement was made this morning:
“As a professional journalist, Tony Snow understands the importance of the relationship between government and those whose job it is to cover the government,” Bush said during a White House appearance.
Snow replaces Scott McClellan, who announced last week he would step down during a West Wing makeover by Josh Bolten, the new White House chief of staff.
Snow, 50, was a weekend news anchor and political analyst for the Fox News Channel, which he joined in 1996. He also hosted “The Tony Snow Show” on Fox News Radio.
Neither of them took questions, but Snow did make one telling comment:
I’m delighted to be here. One of the things I want to do is just make it clear that one of the reason I took the job is not only because I believe in the president, because, believe it or not, I want to work with you. These are times that are going to be very challenging. We’ve got a lot of big issues ahead and we’ve got a lot of important things that all of us are going to be covering together. And I am very excited and I can’t wait.
The BOTTOM LINE: The administration has been inching towards near all-out war with the news media. McClellan was one of the most awkward and ineffective press spokesman in modern history. Snow has stage presence but also has worked in the news media on the editorial-writing side on a major newspaper, plus worked in broadcast news. He is well-schooled in the thinking, sensitivities and demands of reporters. But that can only go so far: if he knowingly transmits false information he’ll be in hot water very quickly.
In his earlier piece (linked above), the Washington Post’s Kurtz explained that Snow didn’t sign on to be just another dartboard for the news media:
Fox News commentator Tony Snow agreed last night to become White House press secretary after top officials assured him that he would be not just a spokesman but an active participant in administration policy debates, people familiar with the discussions said.
A former director of speechwriting for President Bush’s father, Snow views himself as well positioned to ease the tensions between this White House and the press corps because he understands both politics and journalism, said the sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the appointment had not been officially confirmed, although an announcement is expected today.
This would be something of an innovation: a press secretary who (in theory at least) would be not just sent out to do combat with journalists so distrusted by The Powers That Be but someone who actually would work to smooth things over by using what he knows about both sides. MORE:
Snow will become the first Washington pundit — and an outspoken ideological voice at that — to take over the pressroom lectern at a time when tensions between journalists and the administration have been running high, over issues ranging from the Iraq war to investigations involving leaks of classified information.
“President Bush hates responding to the press, hates responding to political enemies — he thinks it’s beneath him,” Snow said on Fox News in March. “He’s got a stubborn streak.” What the president needed, he said, was “a series of vigorous defenses” of his position.
Snow’s challenge: how to “vigorously” defend GWB without coming across on TV as a talk show host. Talk show hosts do well for talk show audiences — but a press secretary is (theoretically) something more…if that press secretary wants to bolster his boss’s standing among the general public — which is not always the same audience that tunes into Rush Limbaugh or Sean Hannity. MORE:
Brit Hume, Fox’s Washington managing editor, said he was “a little surprised” that Snow would give up his new radio show to take one of the capital’s most demanding jobs.
“I think he’s excited by the idea of being on the inside,” Hume said. “He believes he will be at the table when decisions are made. For someone of his bent, that’s too good to pass up.”
And, indeed, Snow would be someone from outside Bush’s normal circle of advisors, so perhaps he could inject a bit of a newer perspective. Kurtz then has this comment which is highly significant:
Dee Dee Myers, a press secretary in the Clinton White House, said that if Bush wants smoother relations with journalists, “Tony has stature. He understands how the press works from both sides. He has a big personality, and that can be helpful.” But she noted that Snow has “a long paper trail” and would have to defend policies he has criticized.
That’s true, too. But if Snow does handle his job with integrity — a word that has not been universally applied to press secretaries in the last half of the 20th century and early 21st century — his paper trail might not hurt him.
Unsolicited Advice To Tony Snow: Your Big Boss won’t be the only one watching you. So will the media. So will Democrats and independents. “Vigorously defending” won’t work if you go on an adjective-hurling attack against the media and Bush administration critics. “Vigorously defend” will work if you explain positions, ideas, and correct what you view as fallacious reporting in specific terms. If people conclude you’re knowingly lying, you’ll wind up being seen as a Scott McClellan without sweat beads.
HERE’S A CROSS-SECTION OF REACTION TO TODAY’S APPOINTMENT:
—Taylor Marsh (in a post that must be read IN FULL) puts it within the context of talk radio:
You just knew it had to happen eventually. Cutting out everyone else and going straight to your base: right-wing radio. The radio host at the podium, what a stroke of genius. No need for facts or truth. It’s about reaching people through emotion in order to get a reaction, through sound bites that stick. Tony Snow is a dream for Karl Rove. It’s putting one of the leaders of the get out the vote team, the right-wing radio host, up front and center in the press room. The base knows Tony Snow. It’s putting the right-wing voter inside the press room. That Tony Snow comes from Fox puts even more emphasis on the appointment.
—Kevin Drum: “I honestly don’t understand why they’re seemingly so set on Snow. What exactly does he bring to the table that’s so unique?”
—Hugh Hewitt:
The announcement that Tony Snow will return to the White House is great news on many levels. I hadn’t really believed this would happen because it is a big sacrifice on Snow’s part, partly because radio shows are difficult to launch and difficult to build and Tony’s show had gotten off to a successful start and partly because the grind of the White House in that job in particular is quite tough….
…Perhaps the best thing about this appointment is the very hostile WH press corps is suddenly confronted by an individual who has already out achieved them in the world of media, which means he knows their tricks and he knows their vanities. There are some smart folks in the WH press room, but there are plenty of pretty faces as well, and they know that Snow is a whole lot smarter than they are.
—Steve Soto: “Tony Snow was announced as the new White House press secretary this morning, in a move that gives me less heartburn than probably other people. I’ll have more on this later in the morning, but to have a conservative spinmeister and apologist be your new mouthpiece, for an administration that treats the press as nothing more than extensions of their propaganda operation, doesn’t seem out of line to me.”
—Steve Clemmons writes that the appointment means “Fox News has just merged the White House more closely into its media empire…”
—Dean Esmay: “I really like Tony Snow and have for some time. He’s a moderately conservative Republican but not an ideologue. He’s intelligent, well-spoken, and funny. He can even take on a vicious demagogue like Bill Maher and come off looking intelligent and reasonable.”
—Alabama Ass Whuppin’: “At least they’re not pretending anymore. A FOX pundit is hired as Bush’s spokesperson. Not really a career move by Tony, more like a job title change.”
—TV Newser: “Fox is already calling Snow a “former” host. Will he ever host The Tony Snow Show or Weekend Live again? This may be a stupid question, but FNC hasn’t answered my e-mail yet: Will Snow remain on the Fox payroll in any way, shape or form?”
—The Kudzu Files: “Tony Snow, talk-show host for Fox News, the wholly-owned subsidiary of the K Street Project, has been promoted to be the new White House Press Secretary.”
—Jeff Gannon (yes THE Jeff Gannon):
Predictably, liberals are saying that the White House has solidified its relationship with Fox News. No comments of the sort were made during the Clinton years when the revolving door between the press and the White House spun so hard that it created a discernable breeze. Nor was there any acknowledgement of the impropriety of the incestuous relationship of the Old Media and the Democratic Party.
Conservatives, including myself, are ebullient with the selection of Snow. Those on the Right felt McClellan was ineffective and weak in his handling of the partisan press corps. I witnessed McClellan’s futile efforts to deal with the hecklers in the front row and was sympathetic to him because I knew that he was not permitted to fight back. McClellan was a shock absorber for the President, a role he played well despite the toll it took.
—Ron Beasley: “Although I’m sure he will be more effective than the hapless Scotty, Snow is still going to be the spokesman for an administration with virtually no credibility. Tony Snow is certainly a personable fellow but his audience has consisted of the kool-aide addicts who watch FOX; he’s been singing to the choir. He may have a short honeymoon with the press corps but after a few non answers or outright lies he’s gong to find out it’s tough to sell something few want to buy.”
—Realm Wave Rider: “Selecting a familiar face to deliver the administration’s messages is a calculated and wise move. Not only is Tony Snow a familiar face in one of the most widely watched news channels, he is capable of managing the relationship with the audience, which is what ultimately counts. He also understands there is a gap which must be bridged between the Bush administration and journalist.”
—Pope Hat: “I think my favorite line about Tony Snow becoming the new White House Press Secretary is “Do you think he gets back pay?” I wish I remember where I read it..I still can’t believe that the main conduit for information from the White House is now Rush Limbaugh’s weekend relief host. Yikes!”
Tony Snow is one of the more gracious people in the radio industry, which I learned during the Republican National Convention, and hopefully he will tackle this opportunity with his customary relish….Will this make a significant difference for the Bush administration? Tony will make a more forceful and eloquent spokesman for the administration than either McClellan or even Ari Fleischer, who did an excellent job in the first term. From his years of radio duty, Tony knows how to talk extemporaneously and engage in debate on a moment’s notice. It would be hard to imagine Tony being at a loss for words or failing to present the best case for any position in which he believes.
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Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.