The White House’s media management team will be in the public spotlight this week following a series of days in which it leveraged the media to distribute what turned out to be misleading or false information.
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President Barack Obama told reporters that Capitol Hill workers were facing pay cuts as a result of the looming budget sequester. Education Secretary Arne Duncan cited the same cause when he incorrectly claimed that a school district was already laying off teachers. And White House spokesman Jay Carney understated by a factor of 10 the number of illegal immigrants administration officials released in a bid to lower the cost of housing inmates in immigration detention facilities.
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The series of false claims from the White House has spurred critical reporting from older establishment media outlets, which usually provides favorable coverage for Obama.
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By Friday, reporters were skeptical to the point of asking Obama tough questions during the unscheduled press conference where he made the pay-cut claim. The President shrugged off the questions, however, and mollified reporters with a jokes and flattery.
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The media’s new skepticism toward the White House was touched off by a Feb. 22 article in which veteran Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward charged that Obama had “moved the goalposts” by demanding new tax increases to offset the spending cuts set by a 2011 budget deal he endorsed.
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The resulting media coverage of the Woodward vs. Sperling dispute obscured the Post reporter’s charge about Obama’s goal post-moving.

But it prompted several reporters to challenge Carney and other White House officials during the week that followed....


Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2013/03/04/white-.../#ixzz2MZlupG7u