White House Pressroom Gets A Makeover

(From The Wall Street Journal Online -- By John D. McKinnon)

For a decade, the daily WHITE HOUSE news briefing has been televised.

Now it is becoming television.

Earlier this year, FOX NEWS talk show host TONY SNOW was hired as press secretary. Next up -- a renovation of the briefing room, likely with a video wall that could display everything from "flags waving in the breeze to detailed charts and graphs," according to a senior White House official working on the project.

For TV viewers, the video feed could be the sole on-screen image, or could share the space with the speaker.

White House officials say they are weighing how -- and how often -- to use the video capability. But the new technology could help transform White House briefings -- midday exchanges with reporters in a utilitarian setting -- into more interesting viewing.

Both the planned video capabilities and Mr. Snow's hiring appear to be part of a subtle but sweeping effort by administration officials to deliver their message directly to the public, particularly through video.

White House Pressroom Gets A Makeover