On Wednesday's New Day, CNN's John King, along with National Journal's Ron Fournier and the AP's Julie Pace, offered Hillary Clinton some advice, after the potential 2016 presidential candidate told a friendly audience of journalists that she hoped for a "new relationship with the press." Fournier replied that "she...needs an intervention of folks who understand the media, and can explain to her, they're not your enemy. They're also not your friend. If you want to get the benefit of the doubt from the media, what you got to do is be honest. You got to be accessible." [video below]
King added that "if she's going to do this, it's going to have to be from her consistently." Pace wondered "what the message from the top is going to be. Is she going to be comfortable with her campaign putting out a little more detail – putting her out there more publicly? Are they going to revert back to, kind of, the old style from 2008? Things have changed so much since then. We saw that with this e-mail controversy – how quickly something can really spiral."
The CNN correspondent pointed out Mrs. Clinton's keynote speech at the dinner for the Toner Prize for Excellent in Political Reporting, and included a clip of the former first lady's remarks, where the journalist attendees laughed at her jokes – including one about the ongoing e-mail scandal – and where she gave her "new relationship" line. King then asked his guests, "Here's the question: is it genuine or is it forced?" Fournier responded by underlining the Democrat's possible ulterior motives, and how she has responded to the press over the years:
RON FOURNIER, NATIONAL JOURNAL: Of course, she wants a better relationship with the press. She wants to be president. It would help if the press validated her message – or, at least, it didn't discredit it – which is what we've been doing lately because of her actions.
Look, I've – as you know, I've covered her for a long time. Her coverage...has gone from the range of fawning to viciously unfair and cruel. And the problem is, she takes the fawning coverage for granted, and internalizes the negative coverage. And it has created this culture around her of mendacity and – and disingenuousness and this ends-justify-the-means attacking the media.
King then noted that before Bill Clinton was elected president, Mrs. Clinton "had a tough ride, sometimes, in the Arkansas press over her maiden name. Then, she became first lady; then, she was a senator; then, she was a presidential candidate – secretary of state...She has evolved several times, as our business has, and she doesn't like that, on the right, she's viewed as polarizing – she's viewed as horrible."
The CNN journalist continued by complimenting the Democratic politician, but also spotlighted one negative side. Pace also added some apparent positive anecdotes about Mrs. Clinton's tenure as secretary of state:
JOHN KING: She's also very effective at press when she wants to be. This is not taking a political side. The Twitter-sphere is going to blow up. John King said this about Hillary Clinton. It's not taking a side, but she's actually charming and engaging. She's a great conversationalist, and she's really funny. She has that Midwestern, sort of, David Letterman funny when she wants to be. But she became paranoid after Whitewater – Ken Starr-
JULIE PACE, AP WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Right. And if you talk to people who covered her as secretary of state, they tell a very different story about their dealings with Hillary Clinton than political reporters tell. She was steeped in policy. She – she was friendly. She was warm.
The AP correspondent then noted that "if you talk to her people, who are starting to sign up with this campaign that's going to announce in the next couple of weeks, they're saying all the right things about dealing with the press." She continued with her question on whether the former New York senator would be "comfortable with her campaign putting out a little more detail" or would "revert back to, kind of, the old style from 2008."
Fournier concluded that portion of the segment with his "honest" advice, which King seconded:
FOURNIER: She, frankly, needs an intervention of folks who understand the media, and can explain to her, they're not your enemy. They're also not your friend. If you want to get the benefit of the doubt from the media, what you got to do is be honest. You got to be accessible. You got to flood them with access and with initiatives...take some risks. You-
KING: Trust yourself-
FOURNIER: Yes-
KING: Trust yourself-
FOURNIER: And don't feel – don't feel entitled to the coverage-
KING: And yes, she has to get that advice. She's the CEO of the campaign now. She's the boss. She has to listen to all that advice. But if she's going to do this, it's going to have to be from her consistently.
PACE: It comes from the top.
