A great example of the press sphere.

The top story on the left side of the New York Times homepage is “Obama Uses Budget to Set Election-Year Priorities.”  At the same time, the first post on the White House Blog is “The 2013 Budget.”  The New York Times article seems to focus on the upcoming election and how his new budget will help his campaign.  An important passage portrays the tone of the article: “The budget over all captures Mr. Obama’s effort to define the 2012 election not as a referendum on his record, which puts him on the defensive if unemployment does not continue to come down, but as a choice between his priorities and those of Republicans, who reject any higher taxes and want to sharply reduce the size of government and remake its most popular programs, Medicare and Medicaid.”  This contrasts the post on the White House Blog, which portrays the president’s interests, and perspectives on the new budget.  The blog tries to focus on what the budget will do for the middle class and attempts to give voters hope: “This year’s budget reflects the President’s firm belief that our country has always done best when everyone gets a fair shot, everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same rules. It’s a document built around the recognition that this is a make or break moment for the middle class and those trying to reach it.”  The president focuses on the parts of the budget that target job growth, a reauthorization bill for roads, and how the economy will be boosted in the next year.  The New York Times read into all of this as the president setting up for his election year and campaign.  This is probably correct.  It’s interesting to think that the author of the NYT article might have read this blog.  If that were true it would be a great example of the press sphere.  The government/white house is represented directly by the white house blog and the NYT article represents the press.  Information from the government gives the press information for its news story.