When They Get Behind Closed Doors ...

President Bush is taking his public relations push to a whole new level as we've learned today that he has been holding a series of off-the-record chat sessions with journalists covering the White House. Janet Leissner, Washington bureau chief for CBS News, told me a journalist for the network was at one of these meetings. It isn't unheard of for a president to meet with journalists in a setting less formal than an official press conference, but these particular gatherings have gained more attention because of the ground rules involved and because at least one news organization – The New York Times – has decided to decline an invitation to attend one.

According to The Washington Post's Charles Babington, the gatherings, one at least that took place in the White House residence, were so informal that White House officials "said they also hoped the meetings' mere existence would remain under wraps." Babington explains the conundrum for the media:

Off-the-record sessions with presidents are somewhat controversial in journalism circles. Critics say reporters should not subject themselves to being influenced or "spun" under ground rules that prevent the comments from being relayed to the public. But many news organizations say the sessions give reporters a rare opportunity to observe the president up close and to gain insight into his thinking and concerns."

The Times has declined this opportunity after weighing the potential benefits to our readers against the prospect of withholding information from them about the discussion with Mr. Bush. As a matter of policy and practice, we would prefer when possible to conduct on-the-record interviews with public officials.

Looked at against the backdrop of the war in Iraq and the administration's recent efforts to justify its course and bolster support for the effort, the press risks a perception problem of sorts by agreeing to these meetings. It may not be fair for anyone to imagine what might happen in these gatherings or what impact it might be having on the way the media covers the administration, but the apparent secrecy being put into practice here almost guarantees such speculation.

In more than one way, these meetings make sense. The last week has been rife with talk about a "blame-the-media" strategy by the White House – the idea that American public has lost faith in the war because the media is misrepresenting what's happening in Iraq. Journalists have pushed back fairly aggressively against that line of attack and a nice, informal, face-to-face talk might help alleviate some of the tension. For the media, the opportunity to get a less-guarded look into the president's thinking and attitude can provide valuable insight. For the president, it allows an opportunity to sort let his guard down and engage reporters in a personal way -- sort of a win-win in many respects.

However, in entering into an arrangement that is constructed to keep information from the public, the press may appear to have struck a Faustian bargain. Since we have no way of knowing what is being discussed (although one unnamed participant described a session as "chewing the fat"), we have no idea what the possible impact could be. Suffice it to say, presidents are typically pretty busy people and don't have a lot of time to sit around shooting the breeze unless there is some purpose behind it. And given the ground rules here, the speculation could include just about anything.

It's entirely possible that the president simply would like to get to know some of the journalists assigned to cover him a little better. After all, there have been a lot of beat changes since he entered into his second term. Perhaps the White House is looking for ways to explain its policies better, to give reporters a better sense of the president's vision. Maybe, as critics will surely charge, it's a charm offensive, aimed at getting more positive coverage. It could be any of those things, a combination of them, or something else entirely. The problem is, we really don't know.

But before anyone starts yelling too loudly about the media having been co-opted by the White House, it's important to put all this in some context. The journalists sitting down with President Bush do not operate in a vacuum. They may hold important beats, but they are also surrounded by editors, producers and other reporters who are part of this media equation as well. It's kind of hard to imagine that suddenly a news organization's reporting is going to feature drastically different versions of the war or anything else.

Anyone who's watched the jousting between the White House press corps and the president or his representatives over the past several months would be hard-pressed to make the case of some collusion between the two sides, and journalistic purists may miss the potential benefits for the public that come from an off-the-record chat with the president. Of course, that won't stop critics from trying.