NPR — Obama’s First 100 Days: A Time For Media Obsession
If you’ve been reading a newspaper or watching cable TV, you probably have the impression that President Obama passed his 100th day in office sometime in mid-April and that this event carried great significance or legal importance.
You would get this impression from the way the news media jumped the gun with intense coverage of this imaginary watershed. For the record: April 29 is the 100th day of the new presidency. For those who might care, we should add that Obama will not actually complete 100 days in office until 1 p.m. on April 30, which would be 2,400 hours after he took the oath of office at noon on Jan. 20 (note one hour of adjustment for daylight saving time).
What difference does any of this make? None, really. Unless you happen to be in the news business, or the business of getting your point of view into the news. For all who are part of this constant conversation, the 100-days milestone has been a preoccupation for weeks. No one waits for the calendar on these things, as that would allow our competitors in reporting and advocating to steal a march on us. To be behind the news curve is worse than death.
NPR
4/28/9
Magnolia Tribune
