Much like the slight of hand of a conjurer pulling rabbits out of a hat, the magic of managing the media is to reveal very little about the process: to make it all seem natural and effortless.

Barack Obama’s presidency is striving to be seen as one of the most open and accessible in modern U.S. history. With a media team the envy of many Fortune 500 companies, the White House press team is in greater control of the media than during any previous administration, according to Vanity Fair

http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2009/07/wolff200907?

“The Obama team doesn’t want to talk about the meticulous calibration of everything to do with retailing its image and message because it is all so meticulously calibrated,” Michael Wolff writes in the magazine. In fact, the White House is less than eager to talk to journalists about this issue. “The process aspect of media, the insider stuff, is not – it’s not our thing,” a key White House official tells the magazine.

(pgallagher@ecdinsight.com)