Obama's charm offensive with the media

How much more friendly can the media be towards Obama? The iro

But a rough year has left the administration trying to make amends with some targets of its earlier sneers — the White House press corps, the cable news talkers Obama likes to deplore and other loud voices on the left. And the change has only accelerated with the departure of White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel — a one-man hub of spin and stroking for favored reporters and recriminations against those in disfavor.

From intimate gatherings with the president in a private White House dining room, to sincere pledges to listen to outside advice, high-level administration officials appear to be engaged in a round of uncharacteristic outreach.

“Charm offensives work,” said Ann Compton, the veteran ABC News White House correspondent, who described a recent, off-the-record and “pretty elegant lunch” of salad and salmon on White House china with Obama and a handful of other reporters.

The administration, she said, is trying to reclaim “that sense of control it had back in the fall of 2008 — control of the dialogue, control of the issues, control of what information gets out.” . . .