Governor Needs to Meet the Press

SACRAMENTO — One of Gov. Pete Wilson’s big handicaps--a major reason he has had difficulty selling himself and his agenda--is that his style of communicating is all backward.

What he does best, he does least. And what he does worst, he does most.

Specifically, Wilson is a natural at news conferences--confident, agile on his feet, a scrapper and a good counterpuncher. But he seldom gets in the ring.

On the other hand, the governor often is stiff and uninspiring at staged, sterile media events designed to provide backdrops for TV cameras. But these productions, along with meandering speeches delivered in a monotone, have been the main staple of his communication efforts.

At least this is how I see it after having covered the governor as a reporter since he took office more than two years ago, and watching the public’s rating of his job performance tumble from 50% approval in May, 1991, to just 30% on Election Day last November, the most recent measurement by the Times Poll.

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Before proceeding further, let’s define news conference. The definition should be obvious to anybody who has ever watched television; George Bush and John F. Kennedy had them frequently as President. So have all California governors for the last 30 years, except Wilson.

A news conference is when a public figure invites reporters’ questions on any subject at a predetermined time and place. To facilitate this process in the Capitol, there is a well-equipped news conference room just a few feet from the governor’s office that all chief executives--except Wilson--have used regularly since Edmund G. (Pat) Brown created it in the mid-1960s.

I bring this up because when I repeatedly called the governor’s press office to find out how many news conferences Wilson has had, the bright but inexperienced spokesman did not seem to understand what I was asking. He kept referring to one-on-one interviews, “availabilities”--often meaning grab the governor outside after his speech--”photo ops,” staged events and single-subject pronouncements. Wilson does a lot of these things.

But I can’t remember the last time the governor had a general-subject news conference in the Capitol. His last scheduled news conference anywhere was the day after the November election in Century City. Then about three weeks ago, he had a spontaneous, lengthy question-and-answer session with reporters at a Sacramento Press Club luncheon. And he showed so much skill there in articulating his views--often with emotion and sometimes with humor--that it dawned on me that he has been underutilizing a talent.

Why? “He doesn’t want his message to be filtered by the Capitol press corps,” confided one senior adviser.

There may be other reasons as well. A news conference is a real pain for holders of high elective office. Used to being deferred to and treated gingerly by aides and favor seekers, they suddenly are thrust into a den of roily reporters. More than that, they have to set aside time to prepare for a wide range of questions.

Of course, skilled politicians can turn all this into a mutual advantage for themselves and reporters, not to mention the public.

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Gov. Ronald Reagan-- the Great Communicator --usually held a Capitol news conference every Tuesday. “As a result, he was always sharp, usually knowledgeable and generally effective,” wrote Reagan’s communications director, Lyn Nofziger, in a 1992 autobiography. “In my opinion, Ronald Reagan as President didn’t hold nearly enough press conferences.”

George Deukmejian also held regular news conferences as governor, though less frequently. “They started out as an important communications tool, but they also became a very important management tool. Press conferences tend to keep the bureaucracy on its toes,” said Deukmejian’s chief of staff, Steven A. Merksamer.

Merksamer explained that a few days before each news conference, Deukmejian would receive a thick briefing book with candid memos from department directors. “They knew that if the governor was meeting with the press, they’d better be the ones to bring anything controversial to his attention,” Merksamer said. “They’d be sweating. . . . If things weren’t being done the way the governor wanted them done, he’d get them done right.”

So what does any of this matter for average citizens, whether a governor has regular news conferences? It matters that they can read and hear the governor’s own words--unfiltered by some aide’s staging and word processor. And in Wilson’s case, he also would benefit.