New York Times Front Page News on Obama

In the front page of today's New York Times, Obama was highlighted in quite a positive way. Entitled "Poll Suggests Obama's Term is Altering Views on Race", the article suggests that the president is changing this country for the better, in direct and indirect ways. The article states that two-thirds of Americans think that race relations in the U.S. are in generally good conditions. The percentage of blacks who say so has actually doubled since his presidency began according to this poll. The poll also states that most of the country feels Obama is headed in the right direction and they agree with Obama's approaches on a plethora of issues. The article continues displaying Obama's success, insisting that even at this point in his term, he has higher approval ratings than any other recent president.

Perhaps these delightful stories about Obama still appear on the front cover of the NY Times and other mass media sources because we are still in the honeymoon stage, or perhaps it is something more. Obama's relationship with the press has been so strong thus far, I feel that they are inclined to continue such positive relations to get more stories. After all, the press is a only a business and needs to keep customers interested. As a direct result, they tend to show positive stories that will generally please Americans. With stories favoring Obama making the front cover of mass media, everyone is happy in this win-win, symbiotic relationship.

However, as much as I like what Obama has done with his presidency thus far, I am still a bit apprehensive that the media is not taking their job as government watchdog seriously. They are so overwhelmed with the amount they have to work with, they are eating it up without any cynicism. As Obama is reaching his 100th day in office on Wednesday, we will see if media begins to speculate further and question his authority, now that the honeymoon stage will be over.