WASHINGTON (AP) — The same president who aggressively harnesses the power of the press to promote his agenda has taken to lacing his comments with criticisms of the media, with no bigger target than the gabby culture of cable television.

President Barack Obama’s critique is biting: The media prefer conflict over cooperation, encourage bad behavior and weaken the ability of leaders to help the nation.

The White House’s attempt to discredit Fox News as an arm of the Republican Party may have been getting the headlines, but it is only one recent window into Obama’s already complex and crafty relationship with those who cover him.

All of Obama’s frustration comes as he not only welcomes the ratings-mad media’s constant demand for his presence, but also aggressively seeks maximum exposure to serve his own agenda.

He went on Letterman and Leno. He’s held as many nightly news conferences in his first six months as George W. Bush and Bill Clinton did in eight years, and conducted far more interviews than either had at this point in their presidencies. He is the first Oval Office occupant to do five Sunday morning talk shows in a one day.

In essence, Obama’s strategy is not to tame the media to his liking or blame it for his troubles. It is both.

Obama defends independent reporting as vital to society. He touts the value of providing more openness to the public and accountability by government — indeed, it was one of his more prominent campaign promises.

And then, he’s the media’s chief critic.

Lamenting the rise of instant commentary at a memorial for news anchor Walter Cronkite, Obama said that “What happened today?” is now replaced with “Who won today?”

“The public debate cheapens,” he said. “The public trust falters. We fail to understand our world or one another as well as we should — and that has real consequences in our own lives in the life of our nation.”

Sometimes the compliments and condemnation come in practically the same breath.

“The 24-hour news cycle and cable television and blogs and all this, they focus on the most extreme elements on both sides,” Obama told CBS News, echoing those comments in the three more network interviews that made up his Sunday show blitz last month.

Blaming the media is almost tradition among politicians. It helps Obama by bonding him with his audience against a common target: the influential press, which many people consider to be biased or untrustworthy. But it does carry a risk of backfiring by elevating Obama’s critics or making the White House look petty for pinning its problems on the press corps.

The president is sophisticated about what attracts coverage, what’s in the media each day, and why. Unlike Bush, who publicly claimed little interest in news from papers or TV, Obama dives into it.

Aides say he reads four or five newspapers each morning. He catches bits of TV coverage on the sets around the Oval Office. Obama also goes online, has articles flagged for him by staff, reads news magazines on Air Force One and likes to hear which stories have aides buzzing.