First Daughter Malia Obama has had a year of ups and downs, celebrating life changes like graduating from high school and selecting a college, but also receiving some unfortunate attention from the press in a way she has never experienced before. That’s the subject of a new BuzzFeed feature exploring how Malia will interact with the media once she leaves the White House.
While Malia and her little sister Sasha were deemed off-limits from the press for all of their father’s presidency, Malia has found herself a media target after turning 18. This year alone, the press snatched a video of her dancing at music festival Lollapalooza, where someone else filmed her allegedly smoking pot. When she announced she would take a gap year before attending Harvard, she received harsh racist attention. Even her own peers have released footage disturbing the First Daughter’s privacy—Brown University students apologized after someone photographed Malia at a beer pong table while she was visiting the college.Â
In 2009, White House security faced the challenge of protecting a First Family’s minor children for the first time since Bill Clinton was in office. According to BuzzFeed, Secret Service agents use a “zone of privacy” system to keep the press in line when underage kids are at risk. This entails strict supervision over any photos taken of the First Daughters at private events—Malia is so protected that the White House reportedly went into DEFCON 1 mode just to remove photos of her out at a restaurant. Â
The press has been iffy about following these privacy requests, with some journalists not caring enough to bother covering the girls, and others ignoring the rules completely. “Any decent journalist would laugh out loud if asked to turn a blind eye to news at the White House just because it involved the Obama daughters,” a reporter told BuzzFeed.
Regardless of the press’s negative treatment of Malia, we can’t help but think that she’s on her way to do amazing things. She’s scored cool internships, has on-point fashion and can easily talk politics with her dad. Although she and her sister will one day be expected to carry on their parents’ legacy, now’s the time for them to be young and have fun. Whether or not the media decides to give Malia more attention as she goes out into the world, we’ll be rooting for her.Â
Read More: The Media and Malia | BuzzFeed