The Biden White House media doctrine: Less can be more - POLITICO

The president does little press.

Three months in, Joe Biden’s White House has settled on a firm press strategy: First, do no self-harm | Alex Wong/Getty Images.

Three months in, Joe Biden’s White House has settled on a firm press strategy: First, do no self-harm.

“Our communications strategy is based on innovation in the digital space, flooding the zone in regional and coalitions press, and effectively using traditional national media.

Former President Barack Obama speaks at a rally as he campaigns for Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden Tuesday, Oct.

In 2009, Obama became the first sitting president to appear on a late night talk show and at the end of his presidency, the administration began to explore new and innovative ways to reach beyond the White House press corps to get his message across.

Jennifer Palmieri, White House communications director at the time, said the shift in strategy came after a realization that any Sunday show or cable hit would get into a conversation about controversy and process rather than actual policy, at a time where Americans still thought Washington D.C.

Inside the White House, there is a belief that Biden can be used best as a marquee player coming in at big moments when there is a need to reset the press narrative or push a major policy.

It hasn’t always gone according to plan — on occasion, the White House has had to walk back or clarify comments Biden has made in the interviews he has given.

But as a strategy, it is a return to an era that predated the Obama White House, when the country heard from the president sparingly.

President Donald Trump turns to reporters as he exits the White House to walk toward Marine One in Washington, D.C.

Robert Gibbs, Obama’s first press secretary, says that the current media environment forces a balance for any White House staff.

Gibbs said he was a bit envious of the Biden White House’s use of surrogates who could take some of the burden and blowback from explaining the White House’s policies.

The Biden Cabinet have quickly become press mainstays.

“There's a media ecosystem in Washington that has to be respected, but if you solely rely on that to get your message out, that is a mistake,” said Eric Schultz, former Obama principal deputy press secretary and current senior advisor to the president.

Rob Flaherty, the White House digital director, says when they were building out the plan, the first thing on their mind was they had to go beyond the press and find ways to be “in every single place, because online, people’s media experiences are hyper-personalized and super-fractured.”

The White House’s social accounts are not stream-of-consciousness rants by the president

Democrats from the Obama years say they expect the Biden team will have to start using Biden himself in more unconventional ways once (and if) the country ever feels like it’s not in the throes of one life-altering crisis after another