The Baltimore Examiner reports that, even though he has yet to give a press briefing, Snow is kicking his press operation into high gear:

WASHINGTON – New White House Press Secretary Tony Snow is starting off in a combative mode against the press by issuing detailed rebuttals to what he considers unfair coverage of Bush.
“The New York Times continues to ignore America’s economic progress,” blared the headline of an e-mail sent to reporters Wednesday by the White House press office.[…]
White House sources said Snow, who started on the job Monday and has yet to give his first public press briefing, is determined to aggressively counter what the administration considers unfair assertions in both news and editorials about Bush. At the same time, he is eager to make the notoriously secretive administration more accessible to the press.

Ace writes:

Keep doing this, day in, day out. If you want to draw a crowd, pick a fight.
At some point, the press has to cover the dispute as being newsworthy. And then, of course, the press has to — reluctantly — actually dig into the objective facts underlying the dispute.

The rebuttals are only half of the solution. The other is more openness. Without it, the press will just ignore the rebuttals, change the subject to something the White House won’t comment on, and then accuse Snow of stonewalling. Tactically, giving some legitimate explanation for things like Porter Goss’s firing and gaps in the Abramoff visitor logs is correct. Take away the press’s ability to use White House secrecy as a weapon, then go on the offensive.

UPDATE: CBS News has posted a rebuttal to one of Snow’s rebuttals! In defense of his story on the new Medicare prescription drug plan, CBS correspondent Jim Axelrod actually makes some very good points – but I’m not an unbiased source on that. Far be it from me to help the White House defend that boondoggle.