Are media part of the problem?

By Joe Spear
Free Press Editor

A potential breakthrough in the country's partisan gridlock was almost stymied by some media reports of the event.

The meeting between President Barack Obama and House Republicans in Baltimore last week is being heralded as a kind of event never before witnessed in American politics: Obama and Republicans talked civilly about their differences, even suggesting sincere efforts at compromise.

But you wouldn't know from reading this Associated Press report that made a lot of the major daily newspapers in the country, including The Free Press.

Here it is:
"In a remarkably sharp face-to-face confrontation, President Barack Obama chastised Republican lawmakers Friday for opposing him on taxes, health care and the economic stimulus, while they accused him in turn of brushing off their ideas and driving up the national debt."

Sounds like business as usual right?

But read this report from the same meeting by New York Times reporters Peter Baker and Carl Hulse.

"President Obama denied he was a Bolshevik, the Republicans denied they were obstructionists and both sides denied they were to blame for the toxic atmosphere clouding the nation’s political leadership. At a moment when the country is as polarized as ever, Mr. Obama traveled to a House Republican retreat on Friday to try to break through the partisan logjam that has helped stall his legislative agenda."

A paragraph or two later: "For an hour and 22 minutes, with the cameras rolling, they thrust and parried, confronting each other’s policies and politics while challenging each other to meet in the middle. Intense and vigorous, sometimes even pointed, the discussion nonetheless proved remarkably civil and substantive for a relentlessly bitter era, an airing of issues that both sides often say they need more of."

"Remarkably civil" in one report, and "remarkably sharp face-to-face confrontation" in another.

I watched the CNN extensive tape of the meeting, and can't believe the AP reporter watched the same meeting I watched. It was a rare and civil meeting that gave me hope as an American, that there is some common ground and some sincere willingness on both sides to reach that common ground and solve the problems.

The civil theme rang through on other commentary I've since watched on the event. Howard Kurtz on CNN's Reliable Sources detailed the unusual civility as did his guests.

Unfortunately, one guest noted, this kind of meeting, will probably never happen again, because it took away ammunition and fighting points from both sides in their war of rhetoric.

That will be extremely unfortunate. Nonetheless, I will award the first ever Free Press bipartisanship award to both House Republicans who invited Obama to the meeting, and agreed to allow cameras in, and Obama, who accepted the invitation even though it could have been a Daniel into the Lion's Den kind of situation.