Ronald Steel Quotes

In politics, you don’t have to love the press; you don’t even have to like the press, but you sure as hell have to feed the press.

The biggest difference between Kennedy and Nixon, as far as the press is concerned, is simply this: Jack Kennedy really liked newspaper people and he really enjoyed sparring with journalists.

I know certain techniques, such as a press release that looks like a newscast. So you use it because you want your man to win.

I do not speak frequently or otherwise to the press.

People are terrified for their own reputations. They want the press on their side.

I'm not one who goes for the 'all press is good press' dictum.

I can't think of any other job in journalism where the newsmakers come to you.

Usually when reporting on powerful public figures, the press advisor and I would have had a conversation that established what journalists call 'ground rules,' placing restrictions on what can and cannot be reported.

Overall, I'm not upset at the press.

My job is to be a spokesman - the spokesman, I suppose - for the President, for the White House, to do the daily briefings, to manage the press corps in terms of travel, day-to-day needs, access, interviews, all those issues.

How can you govern if you always have to feed the news cycle?

After the usual press conference and lunch …

You speak to the press at the Tour every day, but most often in a negative sense. Ninety per cent of the questions you are asked in the post-race press conferences are challenging or provocative, so you have to justify yourself; you have to try to give the right answers about every topic across the board.

Here's a certainty: When you play out your personal dramas, hurt and self-interest in the media, it's a confection. You say what you have to say in the way you have to say it to give it media currency - and that's always far from the truth. Often, in fact, someone else says it for you. It's all planned. It's all rehearsed.

Part of a campaign reporter's job is allowing yourself to be used.

I enjoy the press. I understand their business.

I'm obsessed with how the press handles Donald Trump and how Trump handles the press.

I will say this: One thing I did see in my reporting again and again is that the Obamas themselves are much more involved in handling stories than is usually known.

I give thousands of interviews, and I'm probably about as open as anybody in Washington as far as access goes, so I'll continue to do that.

Politicians don't say no to cameras very often.

Talking to the press is not always good.

I just never, in my career, got into doing a lot of press.

As an opinion manager, a campaign consultant, fixing personality negatives is a lot easier than fixing character negatives.

Every Hockey Canada event, the first day you just do a thousand interviews. You get used to it.

To be sure, every White House tries to limit its exposure to difficult and distracting questions. The Obama administration was scrutinized for its use of late night shows and YouTube chats to get the president's message across in low-risk situations.