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Tap Dancing In A Minefield:
Legislative Staff And The Press
By:
Jay Paul Gumm
Senior Media Specialist
Oklahoma
House of Representatives
Volume 3, Number 1 Spring 1997
© Journal of the American Society of Legislative Clerks and Secretaries
ASLCS Home Page
Governments have grown into complex, multi-billion-dollar enterprises, often given to trying to operate in secret.1
The above excerpt is strong evidence of a problem many legislative staffers face every day. The sentence is from a college textbook on basic journalism, and these words have a huge impact on the relationship between government officials and the news media.
From the very beginning, budding young journalists are exposed to a presumption that something is amiss in government. In colleges across America, journalism students learn that the government and the people who comprise it are the enemy and it is the reporters' duty to ferret out the truth.
Many of this new generation of reporters were inspired by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, whose dogged pursuit of the truth behind the Watergate break-in contributed to the ouster of a President. These new reporters see themselves as crusaders working in the aggressive style of Woodward and Bernstein, and are similarly interested in making a name for themselves by bringing down government officials.
Journalism students are taught that government officials are "often given to trying to operate in secret." The inference from the opening excerpt is that during those times when government operates in secret, something improper is going on.
The media environment is familiar to those who win public office. Elected officials realize when they decide to seek office that they will be under intense media scrutiny. Those legislators who have had to endure the rigors of a campaign are essentially prepared for the media microscope.
The demands on career legislative employees are different from those on elected officials. Legislative staffers are in a more difficult, more risky position. Many staffers have never had to endure a campaign or the constant probing of reporters trying to develop a story. Legislative staffers do not implement their own proposals or agenda; they work under the direction of an elected official. As such, staffers must endure "slings and arrows" for positions and policies they did not formulate.
Also, legislative staffers are probably ill-prepared for the inherent skepticism they sometimes experience from reporters. Staffers are accustomed to dealing with legislators with whom they have developed a professional working relationship, based often on mutual trust and respect.
While it is not impossible to develop trusting relationships with reporters, journalists realize that legislative staffers are not "on their side." Staffers are, in essence, advocates for legislative institutions and their members. Whether a staffer works on budget issues, legal issues or media relations, the reporter will almost always regard any conversation with a staffer as one with the elected official's "Spokesperson."
Map to the Minefield
When the press lets itself become the press agent for government officials and allows them to operate in secrecy, it fails in one of its fundamental roles. If the press does not provide the public with information about the government, who will?2
Again, this excerpt from a journalism textbook illustrates the problems legislative staffers face when dealing with the press. There is often an arrogance among members of the press when it comes to dealing with government officials, both elected and career. Even in cases where "arrogance" is not really apparent, legislative staffers would be well-advised to realize the tenuous position they are in when being interviewed.
The media sees itself as the sole conduit through which government information is conveyed. This perception should alert any legislative staffer who is dealing with a member of the media on a topic, but it is not totally unjustified. Campaigns are won or lost, ideas live or die, and institutions thrive or wither because of what is reported in the news media. Very few citizens take the time to independently seek out the facts on issues before their state legislature. What they see, hear and read comes from the news media.
A local television station in Oklahoma City promoting its nightly newscast makes the bold claim that its anchor "holds public officials accountable to you!"3 Reporters and editors know that their stories influence public opinion and it increases their sense of importance and boosts their desire to be the one who "got the story." The news media is a multibillion-dollar business with intense competition among media outlets and reporters. Like automobile manufacturers struggling to improve their product, reporters are always looking for a better angle or a harder-hitting story.
Enormous competition exists among reporters to get the news and get it first. That competition is often amplified in a state Capitol setting, where several reporters are covering the same officials and same issues on a daily basis. The rivalry among reporters makes the minefield of legislative staff/press relations even more dangerous.
No matter the personal relationship a staffer - at any level of government - might enjoy with a member of the press, that relationship must be put aside when dealing with a reporter in search of information for a story. The reporter is likely in competition with another for the story and they will think nothing of exploiting any relationship with you to get the edge.
Does that mean that legislative staffers can never have personal relationships with a reporter? Of course not. However, such relationships have to be based on trust. It is also wise if both reporter and staffer mutually agree that work subjects are off limits in social settings.
Despite that pronouncement, it is good for legislative staffers to have professional relationships with reporters. These relationships also must be based on trust if they are to be effective. The reporter must trust staffers to give them accurate and honest information and the staffer must never completely trust the reporter.
Any confidential matter or item not yet ready for public dissemination must never be revealed to a reporter. If you have a reporter in your office and sensitive documents are on your desk, remove them or turn them face down. Plenty of anecdotal evidence exists to support the notion that all reporters can read upside-down.
No aspect of the state legislature ... should be ignored. Frequently what happens behind the scenes, at committee meetings, occasional secret sessions of public officials and lobbyists, and seemingly routine staff conference, can be more important and significant than what happens at the public session of legislative bodies.4
Even in their earliest professional training, reporters are taught that staff can be an important source of information. Caution is the best advice for any legislative staffer dealing with a member of the press. Reporters are often waiting for staffers to make a mistake - in policy or practice - so they can point the gaffe out to their audience.
The Rules
So is all the news about legislative staff/press relations nothing more than doom and gloom? Again, of course not. The media are an important component of the governing process, and they are also a fact of life. Staffers can neither ignore them, nor expect to control the media's actions. Yet the media are valuable in that legislatures must communicate with the people they serve if they are to remain effective.
The truth is state legislatures need the media to communicate actions, proposals and new laws. The public needs the media to help keep them informed of what their government is doing. Though state legislatures have made great progress in getting their messages to the public through new technologies like the Internet, limits exist to what non-media communications efforts can do.
No doubt, the symbiotic relationship which exists between state legislatures and the news media will continue. As news programs become more common on television, and more publications are devoted to news, the spotlight will shine even brighter on state legislatures, members and staffs.
There are common sense rules to follow when dealing with the press.
First, never, never lie to a reporter. The only thing a legislative staffer - or anyone facing the media - has is their credibility. One lie, no matter how innocuous, destroys a lifetime of credibility. If you do not know the answer to a question, be honest with the reporter and pledge to get the answer in a timely fashion. Make sure to follow through with the pledge.
Second, never face a reporter when you are unprepared. The media should never be allowed to dictate your schedule. Do not allow yourself to be caught off-guard by a reporter. Take the time to collect your thoughts and prepare your answers.
Third, keep reporters as happy as possible. This is no guarantee of positive or even fair coverage, but it beats having a reporter holding a grudge. Respond to the media in a timely fashion. Provide every scrap of public information to which the media is entitled and requests. Make yourself as available as your schedule and duties allow. However, do not be surprised to see a negative story even if you have "bent over backwards" to help a reporter. One former legislative leader in Oklahoma regularly went the extra mile to be available to reporters and then was unable to understand why negative stories still appeared. It is not personal with reporters; it is just their job to get the story.
Fourth, cultivate a relationship with reporters covering the Capitol beat. Again, this is not a guarantee of always-positive coverage, but it helps you walk a mile in the reporters' shoes.
Despite everything, reporters are human and you will be a more effective liaison if you understand the world in which they live. Again, this should be a relationship based on "trust;" they have to trust you and you can never trust them.
Fifth, give the media substantive information. "Fluff" - or pure rhetoric - carries little weight with reporters. In today's political world, when complex issues are reduced to 10-second sound bites, reporters have all the rhetoric they need from elected officials and candidates. When they come to legislative staffers, they are looking for substance.
Sixth, and finally, whenever you are in a room with a reporter, expect that everything you say or do is "on the record." The quaint notion of "off the record" is one whose time has passed. Whenever you are in a room with a reporter, print or broadcast, regardless of whether you are the focus, expect that your every move and word is being recorded or videotaped. The last thing any staffer would want is to end up on the front page of tomorrow's paper or featured on tonight's newscast for a minor gaffe on tape.
These are not guarantees for success when dealing with the media. Potential land mines are everywhere. Still, they are good suggestions when dealing with members of an increasingly aggressive and competitive news media. Remember that the media are important partners in the governing process and they will always be there. The best way to ensure your good fortune in that partnership is through preparation, honesty and common sense.
Sources Consulted
1 Harris, Julian; Leiter, B. Kelly; and Johnson, Stanley. The Complete Reporter, 5th ed. New York: Macmillan Publishing, 1981. p. 345.
2 Ibid., p. 345.
3 KWTV-TV, Channel 9, Oklahoma City, the local CBS affiliate. The claim is made on a daily basis during promotional spots for its evening newscasts. Emphasis added to reflect inflection of narrator.
4 Harris, Julian; Leiter, B. Kelly; and Johnson, Stanley. The Complete Reporter, 5th ed. New York: Macmillan Publishing, 1981. p. 350.
For more information about ASLCS, write or call:
Sally Kittredge
National Conference of State Legislatures
1560 Broadway, Suite 700
Denver, CO 80202
Phone: 303/364-7700
FAX: 303/863-8003
E-mail: sally.kittredge@ncsl.org
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