Welcome to POLITICO’s West Wing Playbook, your guide to the people and power centers in the Biden administration. With help from Setota Hailemariam Send tips | Subscribe here| Email Alex | Email Max JOE BIDEN doesn’t do many off-the-record chats with reporters. So the traveling White House press corps was surprised and intrigued when the president dropped by Air Force One’s press section for one such session with them during a recent trip to the West Coast. But Biden wasn’t just there to field questions. He had his own message to deliver. According to multiple people familiar with the off-the-record session, he used much of his time with reporters to criticize the quality and tenor of press coverage of his administration. There is growing frustration by the president and his family that he is not receiving the kind of generally more positive coverage they believe he deserves — that too often attention is focused on staff turnover and poor poll numbers and not a robust jobs market and America’s relatively strong economic recovery. In addition to privately pushing reporters, the president and his team are also trying new tactics to change the prevailing storylines. Among them is an attempt to reframe the narrative around issues like inflation. His team published opinion pieces in The New York Times and Wall Street Journal in recent days under the president’s byline, attempting to share his foreign policy vision and path to lowering costs for consumers. The White House has also recently leaned into the use of celebrities to help carry its message. Visits from Korean pop group BTS and Oscar-winning actor MATTHEW MCCONAUGHEY have resulted in major boosts in earned media. Within minutes, a late-night video of the president and BTS discussing recent violence against Asians was one of the president’s top performing posts, and McConaughey’s emotional plea in the White House briefing room for measures to reduce gun violence similarly received millions of views on YouTube. On Wednesday, the president will stop by “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” for his second appearance on a late-night show since taking office and his first one in-person. But that taped interview also spotlights just how few he’s actually given. For much of his presidency, Biden hasn’t spoken to many writers and columnists off the record other than occasional outside adviser JON MEACHAM. He hasn’t done a sit-down interview with The New York Times’ or Washington Post’s non-opinion sections since taking office, a departure from his former boss BARACK OBAMA , who regularly gave one-on-ones to the Times during his first year. Biden has similarly shut out major wire services like The Associated Press and Reuters. Though he’s given a handful of interviews to the major networks, he still hasn’t conducted a one-on-one with CNN (though he’s done several town hall appearances). “I can’t think of a parallel situation – it’s the fifth president I’ve covered and the first one I haven’t interviewed,” said PETER BAKER , The New York Times’ chief White House correspondent. “They feel neither the obligation nor the opportunity.” Baker added that the best White House reporting often isn’t the result of interviews with the president but that extended sit-downs remain an important function of accountability. “Reporters whining about not getting interviews is one of the least attractive elements of White House press corps,” he said. “But the president talks about defending democracy and that’s part of democracy too – answering questions from people not on your side.” Such recalcitrance wasn’t always a Biden trait. In the past, he was more accessible to his favorite media figures. Before taking office, he occasionally held small meetings where opinion writers were present, and sometimes spoke with columnists and writers like Meacham, JONATHAN CAPEHART, MIKE BARNICLE and The Wall Street Journal’s GERRY BAKER, among others. The White House has, in the past, dismissed criticism that the president is inaccessible, noting how Biden often engages with the White House press corps during events, and earlier this year held a marathon press conference that lasted for nearly two hours. A White House official said he often spontaneously takes questions and uses op-eds to set the agenda for the days ahead. But those aren't one-on-one interviews, where more probing questions and follow-ups can steer a conversation in newsy ways. For now, Biden and some of his senior staff appear content to stick with the current plan, including those off-the-record sessions with writers and reporters. As CNN noted earlier this year, he’s spoken with half a dozen writers off the record in recent months, including Times columnist TOM FRIEDMAN . He’s also occasionally called up Friedman’s colleague, DAVID BROOKS, who wrote about one of his chats last year in a column. In a text message, Brooks told West Wing Playbook that he’s had “a couple brief calls with Biden,” but “nothing major” in recent months. TEXT US — Are you HOOR QURESHI, chief of staff for the Office of Digital Strategy? We want to hear from you. And we’ll keep you anonymous if you’d like. Or if you think we missed something in today’s edition, let us know and we may include it tomorrow. Email us at westwingtips@politico.com or you can text/Signal/Wickr Alex at 8183240098.
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