Under Press-ure

This chapter considers the role of the Black press and, to a more limited extent, the Latino press in Obama's campaign. Given his desire to transcend race and ethnicity yet his need to mobilize Black and Latino voters, this specialized press played a key role in the campaign. Before Obama became the forty-fourth President of the United States, his campaign was viewed in three major ways by the media: There were those who cheered him along; those uncertain what to make of him but who retained a tame, mainstream, “wait and see” perspective; and those whose views ranged from “critically supportive” to firmly opposed. Since his election, there has been little change in these assessments, though at this time there is a clearer delineation between those for and against Obama in the mainstream media as they gather a better understanding of his pragmatic tendencies on policy and issues.