"WORKING THE REFS"

In this Politico piece about the WH effort to get more people to realize just how bad FAUX News is, I found this passage:

Tom Rosenstiel, a former Los Angeles Times media critic who now runs the Project for Excellence in Journalism, said the Obama team’s explicit, public call for other outlets to ignore Fox was somewhat different from run-ins between past White Houses and specific news outlets. But he said that’s just an indication of a new media age.

“There was a time you could drop a polite line in a meeting in the Oval Office with White House reporters and ice a whole news organization. Not anymore,” Rosenstiel said. “You have to speak in blunt terms to consumers who are making the decision for themselves how much credence to give to things in different places.”

Still, Rosenstiel said no one should doubt that the White House’s critiques have a political agenda.

“You should beware of politicians playing press critic. There’s always an ulterior motive, even if they’re sincere,” he said. “They’re working the refs.”

To which I say: It's about damn time they worked the refs because the GOP has been doing that for decades. Here's just one report from 17 years ago:

Media to the Left! Media to the Right! The GOP, Shooting The Messengers;
[FINAL Edition]
Lloyd Grove. The Washington Post (pre-1997 Fulltext). Washington, D.C.: Aug 20, 1992. pg. c.01

"Some of it is frustration, no doubt about it," said Republican National Committee Chairman Rich Bond, "But there is some strategy to it," he went on. "I'm a coach of kids' basketball and Little League teams. If you watch any great coach, what they try to do is `work the refs' " - meaning the media. "Maybe the ref will cut you a little slack on the next one."