Report: Biden Administration Holding Secret Meetings with Mainstream Media Outlets in Bid to 'Reshape' Coverage
The Biden administration reportedly spoke to journalists and producers from major news outlets during the last week to influence reporting on the nation’s economic woes in the Biden administration’s favor.
CNN Chief Media Correspondent Oliver Darcy said Monday in “Reliable Sources” that a source told him that the Biden White House “has been working behind the scenes” to “reshape coverage” on the economy “in its favor,” according to a transcript of the show’s December 6 episode.
Throughout the past week, senior White House and Biden administration officials reportedly held briefings “discussing with newsrooms trends pertaining to job creation, economic growth, supply chains, and more.”
Darcy said that the Biden administration’s “basic argument” was that “the country’s economy is in much better shape than it was last year.”
Sounds like state-run media to me.
— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) December 7, 2021
“I’m told the conversations have been productive, with anchors and reporters and producers getting to talk with the officials.”
The Biden administration officials who took part in these briefings reportedly include National Economic Council Deputy Directors David Kamin and Bharat Ramamurti, and Ports Envoy John Porcari, according to Darcy.
Darcy’s report of the Biden administration’s attempt to receive positive coverage from news media comes as the nation suffers from inflation during the holiday season, despite U.S. President Joe Biden’s campaign promise last year to carry out a plan that would supposedly save the economy.
According to the Pew Research Center, the United States’ annual inflation rate struck a three-decade high of 6.2 percent in October. Although inflation rose globally, the U.S., under Biden, saw one of the largest spikes in inflation.
A December report from Gallup stated that 45 percent of American households believe that the price hikes resulting from the inflation are “causing their family some degree of financial hardship.”
Ten percent of the households called inflation a “severe hardship affecting their standard of living,” according to Gallup. Those most affected by the price hike are lower-income households, Gallup reported.
Fox News reported Monday that according to economists consulted by the National Association for Business Economics, yearly inflation will likely stay above 2 percent for the coming three years because of growing wages and high demand for goods and services.
The economists also expect the overall consumer price index to go up 6 percent year-over-year in 2021’s fourth quarter.
On Wednesday, Biden tried to assure the nation of the economic situation with inflation and supply chain shortages in his remarks to the press.
“If you watched the news recently, you might think the shelves in all our stores are empty across the country, that parents won’t be able to get presents for their children this holiday season,” the president said, according to CNN.
“But here’s the deal: For the vast majority of the country, that’s not what’s happening.”
The New York Post’s editorial board slammed the Biden administration Monday over the nation’s economic woes, writing “President Joe Biden can forget Build Back Better — he’s all about Build Back Broke.”
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