Current Position: White House Director of New Media (since January 2009)
Credit: Gerald Martineau/TWP
Why He Matters
Phillips is responsible for translating Obama’s promises of increased transparency and openness to the Internet. As the White House new media director, Phillips oversees the White House web site and its social media outreach.
Phillips didn’t major in computer science in college, but he joined a liberal web design firm shortly after he graduated. He worked with Blue State Digital on President Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential election web site, eventually impressing his higher-ups enough to get a full-time job on the campaign. "I've always been fascinated by technology and computers," Phillips wrote in an email to WhoRunsGov. "I think that blended with my background in community organizing to fuel my interest in what I'm doing now."
Phillips hopes to open lines of communication between government and voters. “We're serving as a connector between the policymakers and the citizens that put them in office," Phillips told the Chicago Tribune in 2008. "There's a lot to learn. I don't have any experience in government other than being a taxpayer."
At a Glance
Current Position: White House Director of New Media (since Jan. 2009)
Career History: Deputy director of new media, Barack Obama's 2008 Presidential Campaign (May 2008 to Jan. 2009); Head of Strategy, Blue State Digital (2004 to 2008); Volunteer, Americorps, 2003
Birthday: 1978
Hometown: Huntsville, Ala.
Alma Mater: Duke University, B.A. (sociology), 2000
Spouse: Single
Office: N/A
Email N/A
Web site
Path to Power
Phillips was born in Huntsville, Ala., in 1978. His sister Susanna is a talented opera singer. “She got all the talent,” he joked to the Huntsville Times. He graduated from high school in 1996 then attended Duke University, where he studied sociology.
After graduating, Phillips moved to Califonia. He said he developed an interest in politics in 2003 when he was volunteering for Americorps Vista’s Dream Program in Vermont. He organized out-of-state trips for disadvantaged children.
Blue State Digital
In 2004, Phillips joined Blue State Digital, a liberal web design firm that focuses on political clients. He worked with the organization for Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), the Democratic National Committee, and on Florida State Sen. Rod Smith’s (D) 2006 gubernatorial campaign.
As head of BSD’s strategy division, Phillips helped spearhead the design of Obama’s presidential campaign web site. The Obama digital operation was hailed for its unprecedented incorporation of social networking tools like Facebook, text messaging and online video. The web operation was probably responsible for raising the campaign about $500 million. Phillips also directed the initiative to announce Obama’s vice presidential pick via text message.
Phillips officially joined the Obama campaign as deputy director of new media in May 2008. "I was out in Grant Park the night Obama won the election," he told the Chicago Tribune. But he was at the office early the next morning to turn on Change.Gov, Obama’s transition web site.
Phillips was named Obama’s new media director in January 2009, a position that was boosted from a mid-level staff job under President George W. Bush to a special presidential assistant under Obama. Phillips oversees a staff of seven, the biggest online team ever fielded by the White House.
In his inaugural blog post, Phillips wrote that he wanted the White House's new web site to serve as “a place for the President and his administration to connect with the rest of the nation and the world.” He outlined three priorities for the new site: communication about the president’s policies and outreach plans, transparency and participation. He was named a Federal 100 winner and an “agent of change” by Federal Computer Week magazine in 2008.
The Issues
Phillips sees himself first and foremost as a purveyor of transparency. The Internet, he said, is the tool he is using to “serve as a connector between the policymakers and the citizens that put them in office.”
He was the chief architect of WhiteHouse.gov, the official presidential web site that provides news, photo slide-shows, videos, transcripts of speeches, policy briefings and opportunities for user participation. “There's a Web 2.0 philosophy behind it. It's being used for interactivity and transparency, it's not just pushing information onto the Web,” Kelly Cutler, chief executive of Chicago's Marcel Media, a web development agency, told the Chicago Tribune.
With its rise in profile, Obama’s web operation has also attracted increased scrutiny. For example, ProPublica a non-profit journalism web site, launched ChangeTracker to monitor additions or deletions to the site. Some media advocates also worry that the Obama administration is trying to create its own brand of journalism that will stamp out alternate views and offer constituents an information network offering an unchallenged governmentpoint of view.
“It’s troublesome until we know how it’s going to be used and the degree to which it can be used on behalf of the people, and not on behalf of only one point of view,” Bill Kovach, the chairman of the Committee of Concerned Journalists, told the New York Times.
Challenges in the White House
Phillips and his team encountered some technological challenges early into their new term. For example, the White House does not support the technology to text message or send bulk emails about presidential initiatives. There are also rules preventing the collection of cell phone numbers, another tactic the Obama campaign employed. Phillips said his team is attempting things in “uncharted territory” and that it is bound to confront challenges. “It’s an ongoing experiment,” he said.
At a September 2009 conference, Phillips said he also struggles to balance his longterm vision with the day-to-day obligations of working at the White House. Phillips said that on the campaign trail, his team "spent a lot of time looking at broad opportunities." In the White House, "we're also beholden to the day to day communications operations of the white house. Balancing those activities for me is one of the biggest challenges."
Incorporating the Public
One of Phillips’ greatest challenges is figuring out how to incorporate public input online. “Politics is about relationships,” he told the Huntsville Times, his hometown paper. “No matter the tool, we were always trying to find ways to deepen our relationship with people.”
However, Phillips is still struggling to find a balance that will meet security requirements while also allowing an exchange of ideas. Currently, WhiteHouse.gov does not allow comments on its blog posts. The site was also criticized when participants were initially allotted only 500 characters to submit an email on the stimulus package. That limit was eventually raised to 5,000 characters. Additionally, though Obama promised to allow a five-day open comment period before he signed bills into law, he broke that deal when he approved the renewal of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program.
Phillips also wants to make data useful to people inside the White House.
The Network
In the White House, Phillips joins a team that includes Online Programs Director Jesse Lee, Deputy Director of New Media Cammie Croft, Katie Jacobs Stanton presiding over direct citizen participation and Kate Albright-Hanna on content lead.
He has worked in the past for the late and influential Sen. Edward M. Kennedy.
