Only 5 percent of White House reporters say Obama has been more transparent than Bush

Win McNamee/Getty Images

Only 5 percent of White House reporters say Obama has been more transparent than Bush
(Image credit: Win McNamee/Getty Images)

It's long been a critique of President Obama that, despite vowing to run the most transparent White House in history, he's done anything but that. And with the White House correspondents dinner this weekend, Politico surveyed 61 members of the presidential press corps and found that they, too, think Obama's administration has hardly been forthcoming with information.

In the survey, 41 percent of respondents said former President George W. Bush's White House was more transparent than Obama's; only 5 percent say Obama's White House has been better on that front.

Meanwhile, 42 percent agree with the assessment of New York Times executive editor Jill Abramson that the Obama White House is the "most secretive" they've ever covered. And half say they've been lied to by a White House official.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

The whole survey is worth a read, both for its insight into the White House, and for its unapologetic navel-gazing. (Real question: "Do you think President Obama knows you by name?")

Continue reading for free

We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.

Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.