Michael Calderone: Obama Doing Local TV Interviews Amid White Press Corps 'Frustration'

The White House press corps has been up arms this week over access to the president, an issue that's long caused tension between reporters and press handlers.

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney defended the administration's record in terms of access on Tuesday, telling reporters that Obama's done 591 interviews since taking office. While Obama has done hundreds of interviews, the president hasn't sat down in several years with major newspapers such as the New York Times, Washington Post, and Wall Street Journal.

But during the 2012 campaign, Obama made time for local TV anchors, a media strategy that rankled some national reporters. The president did 58 local media interviews and just eight national media interviews through roughly the first half of 2012.

That local media strategy appears to be continuing into the 2nd term, even as White House reporters grumble about not getting enough time with the president.

Dan Ashley, an anchor from ABC7 in San Francisco, is heading to Washington this week to interview Obama, according to an article on his station's site. Ashley also tweeted a photo on his way.

Yunji de Nies, an anchor/ reporter for KITV4 News Honolulu, will also be interviewing Obama this week, according to a report on the station's site. She tweeted a photo Tuesday from the White House.

Kevin Ogle, an anchor with KFOR in Oklahoma City, is also interviewing Obama this week.

During the campaign, Obama would typically do round robin interviews with local anchors over an hour or two, a savvy strategy that ensures coverage at the top of newscasts in several markets on the same night. It's unclear how many anchors will be on hand at the White House this week or the set-up for the interviews.

A White House spokesman did not provide a list of interviewers when reached by The Huffington Post, but did not refute reports on local station sites.

?

Follow Michael Calderone on Twitter: www.twitter.com/mlcalderone

"; var coords = [-5, -72]; // display fb-bubble FloatingPrompt.embed(this, html, undefined, 'top', {fp_intersects:1, timeout_remove:2000,ignore_arrow: true, width:236, add_xy:coords, class_name: 'clear-overlay'}); });

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-calderone/obama-meeting-local-anchor_b_2719760.html

lebron james NASA asteroid cruise ship Asteroid 2012 DA14 Reeva Steenkamp rubio