U.S. President Barack Obama (R) greets Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper as he arrives at the G8 Summit at Camp David, Maryland May 18, 2012. (REUTERS/Chris Wattie)

WASHINGTON - U.S. President Barack Obama is a smooth-talking, big-government international star.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper is a rigid, small-government policy wonk.

They both like music and sports, but beyond that it's hard to see many similarities. Except, that is, for their media strategies which are eerily similar and draw nearly identical ire from the reporters who cover them.

The latest flare-up between Obama and the White House Correspondents Association was a golf game with Tiger Woods last weekend. There was no pool reporter. There wasn't even a picture. And reporters were only told about it after the game was over.