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THE Internet has been abuzz over the spectacle of President Obama and the prime ministers of Britain and Denmark snapping a photo of themselves - a “selfie,†to use the mot du jour - with a smartphone at the memorial service for Nelson Mandela in South Africa on Tuesday.
Leaving aside whether it was appropriate, the moment captured the democratization of image making that is a hallmark of our gadget-filled, technologically rich era.
Manifestly undemocratic, in contrast, is the way Mr. Obama's administration - in hypocritical defiance of the principles of openness and transparency he campaigned on - has systematically tried to bypass the media by releasing a sanitized visual record of his activities through official photographs and videos, at the expense of independent journalistic access.
The White House-based press corps was prohibited from photographing Mr. Obama on his first day at work in January 2009. Instead, a set of carefully vetted images was released. Since then the press has been allowed to photograph him alone in the Oval Office only twice: in 2009 and in 2010, both times when he was speaking on the phone. Pictures of him at work with his staff in the Oval Office - activities to which previous administrations routinely granted access - have never been allowed.
Instead, here's how it's done these days: An event involving the president discharging his official duties is arbitrarily labeled “private,†with media access prohibited. A little while later an official photo is released on the White House Flickr page, or via Twitter to millions of followers. Private? Hardly.
These so-called private events include meetings with world leaders and other visitors of major public interest - just the sorts of activities photojournalists should, and used to, have access to.
In response to these restrictions, 38 of the nation's largest and most respected media organizations (including The New York Times) delivered a letter to the White House last month protesting photojournalists' diminished access.
A deputy press secretary, Josh Earnest, responded by claiming that the White House had released more images of the president at work than any previous administration. It is serving the public perfectly well, he said, through a vibrant stream of behind-the-scenes photographs available on social media.
He missed the point entirely.
The official photographs the White House hands out are but visual news releases. Taken by government employees (mostly former photojournalists), they are well composed, compelling and even intimate glimpses of presidential life. They also show the president in the best possible light, as you'd expect from an administration highly conscious of the power of the image at a time of instant sharing of photos and videos.
By no stretch of the imagination are these images journalism. Rather, they propagate an idealized portrayal of events on Pennsylvania Avenue.
If you take this practice to its logical conclusion, why have news conferences? Why give reporters any access to the White House? It would be easier to just have a daily statement from the president (like his recorded weekly video address) and call it a day. Repressive governments do this all the time.
American presidents have often tried to control how they are depicted (think of the restrictions on portraying Franklin D. Roosevelt in his wheelchair). But presidents in recent decades recognized that allowing the press independent access to their activities was a necessary part of the social contract of trust and transparency that should exist between citizens and their leaders.
Consider these moments: John F. Kennedy's son peeking out from under his desk; Richard M. Nixon flashing a two-armed V-for-victory sign as he departed office in disgrace; Ronald Reagan waving from a hospital window after cancer surgery to assure America that he was O.K.; George W. Bush's astonishment on learning of the 9/11 attacks, and his remarks to rescue workers at the rubble of the World Trade Center days later.
It's true that photojournalists will on occasion capture embarrassing gaffes (think of Gerald R. Ford's stumbling on the steps of Air Force One or Mr. Bush's reaching for a locked door at a news conference in China). These images show - surprise - that the president is human.
Allowing media access and providing official photos are not mutually exclusive. News outlets can choose (as The Times has occasionally done) to use an official, or handout, photo when its news value is compelling and the photo is taken in a place logically off limits to journalists, like the private residential quarters of the White House. But The Associated Press rejects a vast majority of White House handouts because they show newsworthy activities of public significance, in locations where we strongly believe journalists should have access.
Until the White House revisits its draconian restrictions on photojournalists' access to the president, information-savvy citizens, too, would be wise to treat those handout photos for what they are: propaganda.
Santiago Lyon, a longtime photojournalist, is vice president and director of photography at The Associated Press.
A version of this op-ed appears in print on December 12, 2013, on page A39 of the New York edition with the headline: Obama's Orwellian Image Control.
Emmanuel Dunand/Agence France-Presse - Getty Images Daniel Ek, the Spotify chief executive and a co-founder, on Wednesday in New York announcing his service's plans.
With competition growing in the streaming music market, Spotify announced a series of changes meant to entice new customers and extend its digital footprint farther around the world.
At a news conference in Manhattan that was broadcast online, Daniel Ek, the company's co-founder and chief executive, said the company was increasing the amount of free music it makes available on mobile devices, opening in 20 emerging markets and adding the music of Led Zeppelin.
Spotify has fascinated those in the tech world practically since it began in Sweden in 2008, both for its sleek design and ambitious business model. Positioning itself as a legal alternative to piracy, the service makes music available free with advertising, or for monthly subscriptions of about $5 to $10, which eliminate the ads and add perks like access through mobile devices. Still, the relative lack of free music available on mobile phones has been seen as an impediment to Spotify's growth.
“The world has changed a lot since we launched,†Mr. Ek said in an interview after the news conference. “More than half of all users are now signing up straight to mobile, and there is a huge correlation between playing on mobile and getting people to convert.â€
Spotify will now make on-demand music - picking specific songs to listen to - available free on tablet computers. On mobile phones, free users can listen in shuffle mode to their playlists and to songs by any artist on the service. (Paying users, of course, can listen without the shuffling.)
Spotify also announced that it was opening in 20 new countries, mostly in Latin America and Eastern Europe, including Bulgaria, Colombia, Guatemala and Paraguay. The company now operates in 55 markets around the world. But Spotify is about to face major competition from YouTube and Beats Music, which are expected to introduce subscription services early next year.
Spotify's exclusive deal with Led Zeppelin, which has sold more than 300 million albums around the world, was notable because the band had refused to license its music to streaming services.
Led Zeppelin's representatives have been in negotiations with various streaming services since at least January. Spotify, which has more than six million paying subscribers, is believed to have beaten out smaller competitors like Rdio and Rhapsody.
Among the few major acts still absent from on-demand streaming services like Spotify are AC/DC, Tool, Garth Brooks and the Beatles.
A version of this article appears in print on December 12, 2013, on page B6 of the New York edition with the headline: Spotify Adds Led Zeppelin, And Turns Focus to Mobile.
Leslie Plesser Gareth Kay, center, who will lead the new San Francisco office of Zeus Jones, with the agency's founders, from left, Christian Erickson, Eric Frost, Adrian Ho and Rob White.
ZEUS JONES, a consultancy that specializes in tasks for brands like digital, design, social media and content creation, is joining a parade of advertising agencies opening in San Francisco by hiring a well-known senior executive based in the Bay Area.
The principals of Zeus Jones are to formally announce on Thursday that they are expanding by adding an office in San Francisco, the first outside their Minneapolis headquarters. The office will be led by Gareth Kay, who will have the title of founding partner of Zeus Jones San Francisco.
Mr. Kay, 40, will also be an owner of the office with the founding partners of Zeus Jones, according to Rob White, one of those founders. Mr. Kay “will become a partner in due course in the total enterprise,†said Mr. White, who is chief executive of Zeus Jones.
Until recently, Mr. Kay had been associate partner and chief strategy officer at a leading San Francisco agency, Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, part of the Omnicom Group, which he joined in 2009. He previously worked at agencies that included Modernista, Lowe & Partners, TBWA and Duckworth Finn Grubb Waters.
The announcement will end speculation that began when word circulated last week that Mr. Kay was leaving Goodby, Silverstein. He may have stimulated some conversation by editing his profile on the social media platform LinkedIn, where he changed his current status to “Person at Company in Stealth Mode.â€
The hiring of Mr. Kay is emblematic of moves made as each year draws to a close and firms seek to prepare for the challenges of the next year. Along with adding or rearranging chairs in executive suites -which has also taken place this week at agencies like Arnold Worldwide, Crispin Porter & Bogusky and Erwin Penland - agencies and consultancies are forming divisions and making deals.
“We recognize fully that we haven't and can't make the kind of impact we want to in one place, with one office,†said Adrian Ho, a second founding partner of Zeus Jones. “Hiring Gareth gives us the benefit of launching immediately with credibility†in the competitive San Francisco market, he added. Since Zeus Jones opened in 2007, many of its marketer clients have been based in the Midwest, among them Nestlé Purina and 3M. Like others seeking growth by coming to San Francisco, the principals of Zeus Jones are attracted by an opportunity to land assignments from marketers based in the West.
“We want to test our beliefs against different brands, different clients,†said Christian Erickson, a third founding partner, adding that because “our process is heavily collaborative,†it is “extremely beneficial†for Zeus Jones and its clients to be close geographically.
Also appealing is the creative ferment permeating the Bay Area as a result of Silicon Valley. “San Francisco is where businesses are being created faster than anywhere in the world,†Mr. Ho said.
Mr. White said that had Mr. Kay “been in New York or Austin, it might have been interesting†to join with him, “but not as interesting†as being in San Francisco.
“It's a combination of Gareth and the Bay Area,†Mr. White said. “It doesn't mean we're not interested in other markets, but we felt, ‘Let's do this one right.' We want to make sure San Francisco is strong before we consider any other markets.â€
Mr. Kay's entry point to Zeus Jones was Mr. Ho. “For a decade, we had conversations about our futures,†Mr. Kay said, that recently turned into more concrete discussions centered on a philosophy that the Zeus Jones founders call building “modern brands†through methods that go beyond traditional advertising efforts like commercials into realms that include designing packaging and solving marketing problems.
“Our beliefs are so aligned, it made sense to do this together,†Mr. Kay said.
Mr. Ho said, “We tried to recruit Gareth before,†to join Zeus Jones in Minneapolis, “and he told us, ‘No, no,' very clearly; he didn't want to be here.â€
Mr. Kay interjected, “I've fallen in love with San Francisco.â€
Mr. Ho resumed: “This came about by sitting down over the course of a month and realizing there was a way for us to help Gareth do what we wants to do, and for Gareth to help us do more of what we want to do.â€
However, before Mr. Kay opens Zeus Jones San Francisco, he will spend a couple of months in Minneapolis.
“I thought I'd go for the frozen treatment,†he said, laughing. (What else could he expect at an agency where a founding partner is named Eric Frost?)
Plans call for Zeus Jones San Francisco to open with three or four employees in addition to Mr. Kay and help from what he called “reinforcements from Minneapolis,†where Zeus Jones has about 45 full-time employees. The San Francisco office is opening with a clean slate. “We think it's good discipline to start with absolutely no clients,†Mr. Ho said. “It builds character†- not unlike a Minneapolis winter.
The founding partners of Zeus Jones are also promoting three executives in Minneapolis to partners. Two of them - David Annis, head of production, and Brad Surcey, head of design - are partners with responsibilities for both Minneapolis and San Francisco. The third new partner, Peter Petrulo, a designer, becomes a member of the management team in Minneapolis.
A version of this article appears in print on December 12, 2013, on page B6 of the New York edition with the headline: Zeus Jones to Open San Francisco Office.
LOS ANGELES - Bob and Harvey Weinstein escalated a legal dispute over their claim to a share in the proceeds from the new “Hobbit†films by Warner Bros. with a lawsuit filed in a New York state court on Tuesday.
The brothers shared in the income from the 2012 film “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey†thanks to an agreement under which they sold film rights to J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle Earth fantasies before founding their current studio, the Weinstein Company. Their suit claims they are owed a similar share in subsequent Hobbit films, including “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,†which is set for release by Warner and its New Line Cinema unit on Friday.
Warner, which disputes the claim, says the Weinsteins committed “one of the great blunders in movie history†by entering into a contract that only gave them a stake in one film. “They agreed to be paid only on the first motion picture based on ‘The Hobbit,'†said the Warner statement, “And that's all they're owed.â€
“The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey†had worldwide ticket sales of more than $1 billion following its release last December.
A New York State shield law protecting journalists was bolstered Tuesday when the state's highest court refused to require a Fox News reporter to return to Colorado to testify in the case of James E. Holmes, the man accused of shooting 12 people in July 2012 in a movie theater in Aurora, Colo.
Jana Winter, of Fox News, refused to reveal a confidential source in her reporting on the 2012 slayings in Aurora, Colo.
In unusually strong language, the New York Court of Appeals wrote, “There is no principle more fundamental or well-established than the right of a reporter to refuse to divulge a confidential source.†First Amendment experts said that the ruling, written by a 4 to 3 majority on the court, could make New York, already the home to numerous media companies, a kind of safe haven for journalists.
“This is a ringing endorsement of New York shield law and establishes that it has real teeth,†said Elizabeth McNamara, a media lawyer with the New York firm Davis, Wright & Tremaine. “The shield law goes back a long time and it has been a real element in establishing the publishing industry here in New York. This is an important decision in that it enforces the fact that journalists can make commitments to sources and they will be binding.â€
But Daniel N. Arshack, of Arshack, Hajek & Lehrman, the New York counsel to Mr. Holmes, called the decision “unprecedented†and dangerous. “There is no prior case that carves out a kind of witness that will not be produced when requested by other states,†he said in a phone interview.
The ruling is only significant for state law and will have no effect on federal First Amendment cases.
After the shooting, Jana Winter, a New York-based employee of Fox News, was sent to Aurora on assignment and reported that Mr. Holmes had sent a notebook full of details of how he was going to kill people to a psychiatrist before the attack.
Lawyers for Mr. Holmes subsequently asked for sanctions in his criminal case, saying that the government had violated their client's rights by leaking the information while a gag order was in place. Law enforcement officials denied leaking the information, and Mr. Holmes's lawyers requested that the New York courts compel Ms. Winter to return to Colorado to testify to determine the truth of the situation.
The Manhattan Supreme Court, a lower court, granted a subpoena to do just that and Ms. Winter, concerned that she would be jailed in Colorado for refusing to give up her sources, appealed the case all the way to Albany. The highest court's ruling means that Ms. Winter's trials are done, according to her lawyer.
“The case is over as far as Jana is concerned and there is no chance that she will be forced to testify,†said Dori Hanswirth, of Hogan Lovells, the lead lawyer for Ms. Winter. She emphasized the case was bigger than her client. “It is certainly telling New York journalists that you are protected even if you travel outside of the state.â€
But Mr. Arshack said his side was still evaluating whether they had options under federal or Colorado law. In a written statement, he elaborated further on his objections to letting the ruling stand unchallenged.
“The decision undermines the ability of prosecutors and the defense alike, across the country, to compel the attendance of witnesses in criminal cases. This is a death penalty case in which the credibility of law enforcement witnesses may determine whether a man lives or dies. To withhold testimony which could affect that decision simply shocks the conscience,†he wrote.
Derigan Silver, an assistant professor specializing in media law at the University of Denver, said he agreed that the ruling set a precedent and one that enhanced New York's position as a safe haven for journalists.
“It is a pretty strong opinion on principle,†he said. “The judges are not just looking at the language of the statute, they talk of tradition and common law, and what makes New York special. If you read it that way it is kind of like saying ‘Come here, do your reporting from New York, and we will protect you.' â€
This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction: December 12, 2013
An article on Wednesday about a refusal by the New York Court of Appeals to require a Fox News reporter to return to Colorado to testify in the case of a 2012 shooting in a movie theater in Aurora misstated part of the name of the law firm of Elizabeth McNamara, a media lawyer who commented on the ruling. It is Davis, Wright & Tremaine - not Travis, Wright & Tremaine.
A version of this article appears in print on December 11, 2013, on page B3 of the New York edition with the headline: New York Court Won't Order Fox Reporter to Testify, Shoring Up State Shield Law.
