Dec. 16, 1998

Contact Gaye Vandermyn (541) 346-3133; e-mail gayev@oregon.uoregon.edu

Source: Stephen Ponder (541) 346-3514; e-mail sponder@oregon.uoregon.edu

EUGENE–The Clinton impeachment debacle is helping erode the power and influence of yet another historically important institution–the White House press corps, observes a press-presidential relations expert at the University of Oregon.

"The Washington, D.C., press corps, for a variety of reasons, is no longer viewed by the White House as supportive of the presidency," says University of Oregon journalism professor Stephen Ponder. "President Clinton’s continuing popular support reflects in part his ability to reach the public through means of communications other than the traditional news media, who have focused on scandals throughout his presidency. This suggests that a president can retain relatively high popular support despite the press, even in the face of impeachment."

Ponder’s book, "Managing the Press: Origins of the Media Presidency, 1897—1933," traces the historical development of the 20th-century relationship between the presidency and the White House press corps. His book will be published by St. Martin’s Press in January.

"Despite sustained and critical coverage of the various Clinton scandals," Ponder observes, "the media have so far been spectacularly unsuccessful at moving public opinion toward impeachment. Clinton has had what may be the most negative press coverage over five years of any 20th-century president, yet he remains popular with the public.

"The contrast with President Nixon’s poll ratings in 1974, when the House Judiciary Committee voted resolutions of impeachment, is striking," he says. "A majority of those responding to national polls had favored Nixon’s impeachment for months before the committee voted."

The UO journalism professor predicts that future presidents, looking back at the Clinton experience–even before impeachment–will continue to move away from their predecessors’ reliance on the traditional press corps as a means of seeking public approval.

In his book, Ponder asserts that the "communications presidency" of the 21st century will replace the "media presidency" of the 20th, which was established to take advantage of the emergence of large urban daily newspapers and national magazines at the turn of the century.

Instead, the 21st-century president, Ponder believes, will seek increasingly to appeal to the public through new communication forms and formats, such as web pages and talk shows, and will place less emphasis on press conferences and other press management practices aimed at catering to traditional journalists.

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