海角大神

By now, pretty much everyone has seen the footage of Hillary Clinton marching in a July 4 parade in New Hampshire, with news reporters penned inside a moving 鈥渞ope line鈥� as they tried to cover her.

This was bad optics 鈥� mostly for former Secretary Clinton, but there鈥檚 an argument to be made that the press also looked bad for going along. Still, it鈥檚 Clinton who has faced the brunt of pundits鈥� wrath for (once again) being inaccessible to the media, and for making herself 鈥� and reporters 鈥� look foolish.

Why does the longstanding friction between Clinton and the media persist, and what can be done to serve everyone鈥檚 interests 鈥� Clinton鈥檚, the media鈥檚, and voters鈥�?

Part of the issue is that, among all the candidates running for president, Clinton is unique 鈥� and that affects how her campaign operates.聽聽

鈥淥ur imperative in our campaign is just different than it is for other candidates,鈥� Jennifer Palmieri, the Clinton campaign鈥檚 communications director, said

Ms. Palmieri didn鈥檛 elaborate, but it鈥檚 clear what she meant: As a former first lady, former senator, former presidential candidate, and former secretary of State, Clinton is universally known. Unlike the other candidates, she doesn鈥檛 need to boost her name recognition. But she does need to reintroduce herself to voters, and build a sense of connection with them. 聽

Media interest in her is as intense as ever, which creates logistical challenges. And she remains leery of the press 鈥� some observers 聽鈥� but the reality is that the media鈥檚 relationship with the Clinton campaign is better than it was when she ran for president the first time, eight years ago.

鈥淟ast time we were in open warfare,鈥� says Mo Elleithee, senior spokesman for Clinton鈥檚 2008 campaign and now executive director of the Georgetown Institute of Politics and Public Service.聽鈥淔rom the get-go, it was assumed [by the campaign] that every interaction with the press was going to be hostile. There was a significant amount of stonewalling, and yelling, and just us-vs.-them mentality. That eventually changed, but by then it was too late. The well had been poisoned.鈥�

This time, going in, there鈥檚 been more willingness on both sides 鈥� the campaign and the media covering it 鈥� to work toward a functional modus operandi. For example, the Clinton campaign approached the White House Correspondents鈥� Association about helping to set up a press pool, similar to the rotation of reporters that covers the president each day. A Clinton press pool has been functioning almost since she announced her campaign. 聽

Clinton campaign press relations aren鈥檛 perfect. But they鈥檙e more collegial than they were eight years ago, say both campaign operatives and reporters. 聽

Still, reporters need to understand that they can鈥檛 have everything they want, Palmieri suggests.

鈥淸The] press is important, but they鈥檙e not as important as voters,鈥� Palmieri said on 鈥淢orning Joe.鈥�

There鈥檚 another reality that the press needs to acknowledge, political strategists note: The media landscape has changed dramatically since 2008, with the advent of Twitter and other social media.

Social media can cut both ways. A campaign 鈥� or the White House 鈥� can bypass traditional media and reach voters directly on multiple platforms. But a vehicle like Twitter can also just as easily create bad optics for a campaign in a way that didn't happen before social media existed. In 2000, when Clinton ran for Senate, and 2008, when she last ran for president, her campaign used rope to corral reporters, but it wasn't a big story.聽

Last Saturday, moments after the Clinton campaign deployed its 鈥渕oving rope line,鈥� at a parade in Gorham, N.H., reporters were tweeting out images.

This and other images of the rope line went viral, creating a social media sensation. The bad news for Team Clinton was that it fit the long-running narrative of tense relations between campaign and press. Reporters amplified the spectacle with accusing tweets.

Republicans also jumped on the bandwagon. The New Hampshire Republican Party slammed 鈥渢he use of a rope line to protect the arrogant Democrat frontrunner on a public street.鈥�

On the Sunday talk shows, commentators also had fun with the rope line 鈥� and took shots at both Clinton and the press. 聽

鈥淭his is humiliating for reporters who have to abide by Hillary Clinton鈥檚 rules of journalism,鈥� said S.E. Cupp on CNN鈥檚 "State of the Union."

And, Ms. Cupp added, 鈥渁ctually I don鈥檛 blame聽her, I blame reporters who put up with this. The second they decide we鈥檙e not doing this anymore, we鈥檙e not going to cover your glossy events the way you want it, then she鈥檒l be forced to change this behavior.鈥�

As for Clinton鈥檚 media strategy, Palmieri acknowledged Monday that the campaign takes its lumps for not giving the press what it wants, but suggested a larger goal 鈥� to build a 鈥済ood foundation鈥� for a campaign she hopes will take Clinton all the way to the White House.

鈥淚 understand ... that we pay a price with the press when we don鈥檛 do interviews, and when we do smaller events that don鈥檛 have the access that a larger event may allow,鈥� Palmieri said on 鈥淢orning Joe.鈥� 鈥淏ut this is part of our calculus about how we鈥檙e building a campaign that鈥檚 built to last. And she learned a lot of lessons in 2008.鈥�

As it happens, the Clinton campaign is now moving into a new phase of greater accessibility to the media. On Tuesday, Clinton will give her first national TV interview since announcing her campaign to CNN.聽