Years, you and your team have been charged with telling the story of the news media in society. Were going to talk today about news media and president s. When you think about that relationship from a macro standpoint, what has characterized the relationship between president s and the press throughout our history . Patty it is an interesting courtship, that relationship between the president s and the press. Early on during, the campaign years, the candidates want to woo the press. They want to put on the best face. They know the power of the press to get their message outside. But when they get in office and the confetti is down and the celebration is over, and the reality of governing comes in, and they realize that the role of the press is to be a watchdog, to be the peoples watchdog on government, to see how are they doing the job that they are doing. To be a check and balance on the president. Few president s enjoy being criticized. That is often the role of the press. So that re