Elena Kagan White House "Interview" Riles Reporters

If you listen to the "interview" on the source site, you will see that it is basically a self promoting background piece. I don't see any harm in this if Kagan is made available to the press for questioning prior to confirmation. What the press is worried about is that the Obama administration is trying to manage the news to eliminate any potential for embarrassment. This management is something they bragged about during the campaign. Transparency it is not.

Excerpt: The White House today posted on its website a video allowing Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan to speak "in her own words" about her personal history and perspective.

In the interview, conducted by a White House staffer who produces videos for the administration, Kagan discusses her childhood, parents and professional career. At one point she jokes that people get confused between her job as solicitor general arguing cases before the Supreme Court and the attorney general, who puts "the labels on the cigarette packages."

While the White House seems to believe the American people deserve to hear from Kagan, it has not made her available to reporters. That prompted some consternation at today's White House briefing.

The decision to post an interview with Kagan conducted by a government employee - not a journalist - is in line with the Obama administration's policy of regularly using new media tools to go around traditional media.

Doing so allows the administration to better control its message - and, in this case, avoid any uncomfortable questions for their Supreme Court nominee. Read full article here.