From WNYC in New York, this is NPR's On the Media. I'm Bob Garfield.

Speaking to us from a bunker in Florida.

Don't even ask.

And I'm Brooke Gladstone.

Hey, Bob, we meet again.

We do indeed.

I apologize for the tininess of what follows, but the microphone I have is the microphone I have.

What are you? The Donald Rumsfeld of radio announcers?

That's correct.

Well, just to save the listeners' ears for a while, I will read this intro into you.

Okay.

President Obama's first tour of Asia was heavily covered by the U.S. press.

President Obama tending to one of America's most complicated and critical relationships, China.

Commentators made sure to note the difficulties he faced.

President Obama arrived in Shanghai in a driving rain.

The challenges here, though, began before his feet even touched the tarmac.

And when the president touched down at home Thursday, he was welcomed by pundits with a verdict

on his trip. The consensus, they thought he'd showed an inveterate lack of vertebra.

There is a real danger here that the Chinese will have concluded from this that the United States is a

power on the way and a president who is cautious and timid and we can pretty much have our way.

The Atlantic's James Fallows, who has reported both from China and worked within a presidential

administration, joins us to talk about the president's trip and the media coverage it engendered.

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