Chronicles the story of the evolution of relationship between presidential press secretaries and reporters who covered White House news during the terms of presidents from Franklin D Roosevelt to George W Bush. This book reveals how the tension between government and media has resulted in the manipulation of facts and release of "official" news.

It started subtly in the Roosevelt administration and has been carefully honed with the transformation of the media in the information and technology revolution; he shows how it has been refined to the point where it is now recognized for what it is: slanting or packaging the news in favour of the president to make it acceptable - even desired - by the public. Perception quickly becomes reality, and once the "facts" of a situation have been accepted by the establishment - politicians and the press alike - it becomes virtually impossible to change people's minds about them.