“When a dog bites a man, that is not news, because it happens so often. But if a man bites a dog, that is news,” this definition was coined more than a century ago and generations of journalists have adhered to it.

But earlier this year, journalists around the world were forced to report something that is not news according to the definition above, and now they have reported a follow-up development to that non-news story.

In March 2021, a dog owned by US President Joe Biden bit a member of his security team. The German Shepherd named Major resorted to aggressive behaviour twice within days, according to British media.

First Lady Jill Biden had described Major as “a sweet dog” in March.

Now Major has been ousted from the White House and replaced with ‘Commander,’ a German Shepherd puppy.

Western media outlets, including CNN and Guardian, have reported the development with commentary. Guardian, for example, says Commander’s name ” appears to be a play on Biden’s status as commander-in-chief of the US armed forces.”

The British newspaper also reported that the White House will also welcome a feline member of the family in January.

Back in March, when Major bit two people, CNN was careful enough not to report the nature of “aggressive incident” and had said that one of the people had described it as a “biting incident.”

After sending Major back to the proverbial dog house, the White House in a statement has tried to play down reports that it had taken the decision “in reaction to any new or specific incident.”

If Major’s aggressive behaviour caused embarrassment for the White House, President Biden has used Commander to salvage the lost reputation.

He introduced Commander to the world by tweeting one of its pictures at the White House lawn.

The tweet came from the official handle of the US president @POTUS. 

About an hour later a video was tweeted from the same handle showing the president and the first lady with their new family member. It was captioned, “Meet the newest Biden.”

Biden lost another of his dog, Champ, in June. Its death was also reported by US media outlets.

Several people had empathized with the US president then.

In Pakistan, former President Pervez Musharraf had released photos with his dogs Dot and Buddy shortly after seizing power in 1999. Some analysts then claimed he wanted to portray himself as liberal ruler to the West.

A few years later the Foreign Policy Magazine tried to find the whereabouts of Dot and Buddy but in vain.



source https://www.samaa.tv/news/2021/12/us-president-dogs-commander/