More Photos from the Trip to SA

Via PolicyMic:  8 Photos You Didn’t See From Obama’s Trip to South Africa.

FILED UNDER: Africa, US Politics,
Steven L. Taylor
About Steven L. Taylor
Steven L. Taylor is a Professor of Political Science and a College of Arts and Sciences Dean. His main areas of expertise include parties, elections, and the institutional design of democracies. His most recent book is the co-authored A Different Democracy: American Government in a 31-Country Perspective. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Texas and his BA from the University of California, Irvine. He has been blogging since 2003 (originally at the now defunct Poliblog). Follow Steven on Twitter

Comments

  1. Of course, given that all of these photos come from Pete Souza, a government employee who has access to the President that press photographers do not, means that they are quite obviously going to be far more, shall we say, kind to the person in office than what press photographers might be able to catch if and when they are given access.

    As I noted last month, though, there is an ongoing dispute between the White House and the press photographers who cover the White House over the very issue of access.

  2. C. Clavin says:

    @Doug Mataconis:

    a government employee who has access to the President that press photographers do not, means that they are quite obviously going to be far more, shall we say, kind to the person in office than what press photographers might be able to catch if and when they are given access.

    So it appears that limiting access is justified then…if Press Photographers are going to be unkind…or biased would be another word…as you say.

  3. @Doug Mataconis: I really had not comment on the photos, just found them interesting (although I will say that the commentary is a bit simplistic).

    However, as per my post on the selfie, no photo tells the whole story (and there is always a lot of room for interpretation).

  4. @C. Clavin:

    Yea because how dare the media show our leaders in anything other than the most sympathetic, sycophantic manner possible.

    Souza is, in the end, an Administration propagandist who takes photos that make the President look good. He’s not a substitute for the press.

  5. john personna says:

    @Doug Mataconis:

    There is nothing that says the President has to do more than send written memos to serve his station.

    “Access” is bs.

  6. al-Ameda says:

    How the hell did they let those shocking pictures of the “handshake” get out? Thank god the press caught the president in that unscripted “Neville Chamberlain” moment with Raul Castro.

  7. @john personna:

    Yes, because how dare the press upset the privacy of His Majesty.

  8. John Peabody says:

    Thanks for the link to the photos.

  9. C. Clavin says:

    @Doug Mataconis:
    Now we’re getting to what ails you. Your ODS is showing.

  10. john personna says:

    @Doug Mataconis:

    We have a free press and an open society. Let’s say that the President communicates just as much as he wants to. What’s the problem?

    If the President were to wall up in an abandoned military base he’d have a pretty hard time accomplishing anything, right?

  11. john personna says:

    (Note that a President who effectively uses press conferences probably will accomplish more of his goals, but that’s about perceptions. And certainly the President doesn’t need to yield perceptions to anyone.)

  12. C. Clavin says:

    @Doug Mataconis:
    But the Press has been conspicuous in their absence for years.
    If and when a healthy press re-appears I think they definitely should be allowed access.
    Until then there’s no reason.
    Keep in mind that I am a former Broadcast Photographer with 3 Emmys to my credit.

  13. C. Clavin says:

    @Doug Mataconis:
    Here’s a perfect example of the coverage you are pining for…
    http://nypost.com/2013/12/12/obamas-flirt-with-danish-prime-minister-is-a-disgrace/

  14. john personna says:

    (Note also that a President who goes to his ranch to “clear brush” with just a staff photographer isn’t providing “access,” and he may be soundly ridiculed for it. In that way the system self-corrects.)

  15. john personna says:

    @C. Clavin:

    That’s pretty funny

  16. al-Ameda says:

    @C. Clavin:

    Here’s a perfect example of the coverage you are pining for…
    http://nypost.com/2013/12/12/obamas-flirt-with-danish-prime-minister-is-a-disgrace/

    Well at least that wasn’t a “Neville Chamberlain” moment, right?
    Also, I have to say, I’ve always thought that Obama and Scarlett Johansson were a great couple.
    http://cdn.theweek.co.uk/sites/theweek/files/styles/theweek_article_main_image/public/images/080626people_obama–121448037934208900.JPG?itok=vKiqs0NY

  17. beth says:

    @C. Clavin: Wow, and that was written by a woman. A woman who refers to the Danish Prime Minister as a Danish Pastry, Danish Hellcat and Danish Cupcake. Yeah, let’s let fine journalists like this have more access to the President. What could go wrong?

  18. anjin-san says:

    Yes, because how dare the press upset the privacy of His Majesty.

    Jesus Doug, go have lunch with Jenos or something. I will cover the tab.

  19. C. Clavin says:

    @anjin-san:
    That’s funny…I can see Doug and Jenos sitting on the couch in Jenoses mothers basement munching on Cheetos and chocolate milk. Of course they are each wearing oneseys.

  20. mantis says:

    Does Doug actually believe a press photo of the president at his desk is muckraking journalism essential to the function of a free press, or is he just another ODS troll? You decide.

  21. Grewgills says:

    @Doug Mataconis:
    I still see a lot of MSM shots of Obama. It doesn’t seem like the photographers working for media outlets (some of them journalists) are being at all frozen out. What is happening is that more photos by the White House photographer are getting out and the media photographers are jealous of that access (at a level no president would give any but his own people). Absent the release of his own photos, the media photographers have no gripe. So, in essence, it boils down to how dare he release his own photos, that’s our job.

  22. Tyrell says:

    What we are still waiting to see are the pictures of what all Bill Clinton did.