After spending years in the public eye, Clinton is famously wary of reporters and has a reputation for hating the media. She has accused the media of subjecting women to a double standard, and she has mastered the art of ignoring questions from the press. As the campaign’s podcast, website, and social-media accounts spread a carefully stage-managed message, reporters lament a lack of access and media outlets complain about the infrequency of Clinton’s press conferences. All of which raises a few questions: Does media generated by the campaign come at the expense of traditional media outlets? What would a president skeptical of the media mean for transparency and accountability in the White House? Clinton may not want to be put on the spot with uncomfortable questions, but that doesn’t mean American voters don’t want answers.

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As the front-runner, it benefits Clinton to keep a low profile on traditional media. Donald Trump’s campaign looks like it has been set to self-destruct in full view of every major cable television network. Clinton can step aside and let Trump generate negative headlines, and polling suggests voters won’t hold it against her. But that could leave the public worse off. The Clinton media strategy is not necessarily surprising, but it is “highly problematic,” said Kathleen Hall Jamieson, the director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania. “There’s a tactical advantage to ducking the press when it looks like you are poised to win,” Hall Jamieson said, “but it means that the public is less informed. It can also leave candidates less prepared to respond to tough questions.”

The campaign and the candidate resist charges that Clinton avoids the media. “I’ve done nearly 300 interviews just in 2016. I believe that it’s important to continue to speak to the press, ” Clinton told CNN’s Jake Tapper in May. That number has risen to “nearly 400 interviews this year, which amounts to thousands of questions from press, national and local,” according to the campaign’s traveling press secretary, Nick Merrill. The campaign also points out that there are other opportunities for the media to interact with the candidate on the campaign trail. As far as the campaign’s digital-media messaging: It’s not easy to cut through the noise created by the constant controversy surrounding Trump. From the perspective of the Clinton campaign, taking their candidate’s case directly to the public as often as possible is not just good strategy; it’s crucial for the fate of the country.

Of course, not all media is created equal. It’s worth considering what is sacrificed when a candidate gives less airtime to certain formats. Sure, sit-down interviews can lead to revealing exchanges. But press conferences are a more freewheeling format that allow for questions from a broader range of journalistic voices at once. Working in tandem can help journalists pry more information out of a politician than they otherwise could in a one-on-one interview, particularly when reporters have the benefit of answers to questions they may not have even thought to ask. The role of traditional media as a trusted gatekeeper has also diminished at a time when social media makes self-publishing eminently possible. As presidential campaigns increasingly get their message out without the press, the public may rely on the media as an important source of information less and less.