By Aaron Miller-
President Joe Biden’s new press secretary Jen Psaki vowed to bring ‘transparency and truth’ back to the U.S government , as she addressed reporters during her first press briefing.
Calm and collective, Psaki was excellent in her communication with the media, smiling warmly as she set a tone that promised a respectful and professional relationship with the media- a far cry from the toxic relationship the Trump administration had with the U.S media, whom he described as the ”enemy of the people”.
Psaki, an experienced professional, formerly a State Department spokesperson and a White House communications director, was refreshing in that first dealing with the press gathered in a room with selected news outlets, to enable social distancing due to the pandemic. She acknowledged there won’t always be agreement with the press.
‘I will just state because you gave me the opportunity I have deep respect for the role of a free and independent press in our democracy and for the role all of you play,’ Psaki said.
Psaki began the largely polite briefing by telling reporters that she and the White House press corps may not always agree.
‘There will be times when we see things differently in this room, I mean among all of us, that’s OK. That’s part of our democracy and rebuilding trust with the American people will be central to our focus in the press office and the White House, every single day,’ Psaki said.
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She came back to the fact that she and the media might not always see eye to eye, when asked to define her own role.
‘As I noted earlier, there will be moments that we disagree and there will certainly be days we disagree for extensive parts of the briefing, even perhaps,’ Psaki said.
‘But we have a common goal, which is sharing accurate information with the American people,’ she continued.
She said Biden believes ‘he works for the American people.’
‘I work for him, so I also work for the American people.’
‘But his objective and his commitment is to bring transparency and truth back to government to share the truth even when it’s hard to hear,’ Psaki said. ‘And that’s something that I hope to deliver on in this role as well.’