A few days after Hillary Clinton declared her candidacy for president, she ignored reporters during a campaign stop through Iowa. The reporters ran after her van, and were criticized on social media as acting like paparazzi chasing a teen heartthrob.

However, Clinton's avoidance of spontaneous questions from reporters and unscripted moments is part of a strategy to exert control over the media -- a strategy that she has honed during more than 30 years as a political spouse, senator and Secretary of State, says University of North Texas journalism professor James Mueller.

"Right now, Hillary Clinton has no viable challengers for the Democratic nomination, so she can run a front porch campaign and doesn't need to interact too much with the press. But if someone else enters the race in a big way, we'll probably see her become more active with the press," he says. 

Mueller, author of "Tag Teaming the Press: How Bill and Hillary Clinton Work Together to Handle the Media," is following Hillary Clinton's campaign and her interactions with members of the media closely and is available for interviews. He may be reached at 940-565-2278 or 940-368-3528 or at jmueller@unt.edu.

In the book, which was published during Clinton's 2008 campaign for president, Mueller used the term "tag teaming" to describe how the Clintons fulfill a number of roles for each other in interacting with reporters, including good cop, bad cop, lightning rod and schmoozer.

While Bill Clinton has been largely out of the spotlight since Hillary Clinton formally became a candidate April 12, he could be an effective during the campaign with the press, Mueller says.

"He can be an attack dog, or he can be very charming. Hillary has had so many bad experiences with the press that it's been hard for her to build trust and rapport with reporters. It's difficult to overcome that kind of attitude, but she has acknowledged that she wants to have a new relationship with the press. She could use Bill as a good cop to accomplish that," he says.

While Bill Clinton was a natural at one-on-one interviews because he knew how to charm reporters, Hillary has never had a reputation of being good at those interviews, "but that may be because she was overshadowed by Bill," Mueller says.

"If she does a one-on-one interview during the campaign, it will be tightly controlled by her and with someone she trusts," he says, noting that Clinton does not fear the media and won't seem upset when she's criticized.

"She's learned a lot from scandal management," he says. "Americans look for a certain toughness in presidents and candidates, and her heights of popularity have been when she's been under attack."

He says adapting to different forms of media, including social and digital media, will be Clinton's biggest challenge.

"Candidates now have to find voters where they are, which is why Obama has gone on some unusual platforms like You Tube," Mueller says. "That's going to be a test for Hillary, but she has some former Obama campaign staffers on her team."