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The Governor's Office owes West Virginia Watch Reporter Caity Coyne an apology for her treatment last week on Gov. Jim Justice's weekly administration briefing.
Coyne tried to ask Justice about whether administration officials and cabinet secretaries were under any type of gag order where they were required to seek permission from the Governor's Office before speaking with the press.
The question stemmed from an incident at the end of the meeting last Tuesday for the Legislative Oversight Committee on Regional Jail and Correctional Facility Authority, where Department of Homeland Security Cabinet Secretary Mark Sorsaia and Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation Commissioner William Marshall presented lawmakers an update on correctional officer vacancies and other issues.
Coyne merely wanted to ask a follow-up question to the officials to get some clarification on something to which they testified. But she was told they could not speak without receiving approval from on high.
So, Coyne asked Justice the following question on last Wednesday's briefing:
"I know myself and other members of the media have been told that there has been some sort of suggestion or directive from your office to state agencies to not speak to media without your offices' approval, even, it seems, for clarifying questions following public meetings. Can you please confirm whether public officials with state agencies are allowed to talk to the press without your approval. If there is some sort of policy, can you explain the justification for it and what exactly it entails."
Justice's answer to the question itself was a bit oxymoronic, on one hand saying his officials should be transparent with the public and press while also saying they can also choose to ignore the press as well.
"First and foremost, every single employee we have, in my opinion, needs to be fully transparent," Justice said. "If they choose to talk to you, that's their prerogative from my standpoint."
But it was Justice's further comment to Coyne that raised a few eyebrows in media circles, accusing Coyne of rebuffing an attempt to address her earlier follow-up question regarding jails and prisons.
"We offered up an interview for you to have today with Billy Marshall and you declined," Justice said. "I don't have any idea what your end goal is, but at the end of the day, there is no secrecy on my part. There's not ever going to be that. But if you have an end game that's just a gotcha' moment end game, from the standpoint of my folks they are smart, they're good people and everything. If they say they need to get back to you on something, then you need to be respectful."
From what I understand, Coyne did decline, but she did so for two reasons: 1) She had already published her story on Tuesday's meeting, and 2) they wanted to schedule a follow-up for the same time as the governor's Wednesday administration briefing.
This isn't the first time a reporter from one of the newer nonprofit news projects in the state has been shabbily treated by the Justice administration. One time it happened with me as collateral damage.
On the last day of the 2023 legislative session in March, Justice invited press to the Governor's Mansion for a media availability to talk about successes from the 60-day session. They invited several statehouse reporters, including myself. But they did not invite the Beckley Register-Herald reporter covering the session nor a reporter for Mountain State Spotlight, a non-profit newsroom created by long-time Charleston Gazette-Mail Reporter Ken Ward.
I had a problem with inviting some of the reporters who covered the session and not others, so I invited the others to join me as I walked to the Governor's Mansion. Despite the TV news crews in front of us who were invited inside, we were told to wait on the porch. More than 20 minutes later, we were told the governor was no longer doing interviews the rest of the evening.
I felt it was more important to stand with fellow reporters than get an interview with the governor.
I'm not saying that government officials shouldn't be skeptical of new media outlets. There have been several fly-by-night outlets created recently, and anyone can set up a website or blog in seconds, then demand a press pass. But it is also pretty easy to discern between political troublemakers operating under the guise of "reporter" and legit reporters with actual experience, resumes and reputations.
I tend to be more sensitive to this issue because I was a reporter funded by a nonprofit libertarian-leaning think tank from 2009 to 2012. I founded West Virginia Watchdog after several years as a local print and radio news reporter. And when I arrived in Charleston for the 2010 legislative session, the first one I ever covered, I was skeptically treated by both politicians and fellow reporters. I was literally front-page news in the Gazette-Mail that winter.
I overcame the skepticism by doing good, fair journalism. That didn't mean I did reporting that made people in the state government happy, but there was an understanding that I was trying to get to facts and give people a say. Some of these new outlets, like Mountain State Spotlight or West Virginia Watch, may have a lean in their editorial stances, but the reporters who work for these outlets I believe are trying to be fair as well.
My advice for Gov. Justice and the various communications professionals across Justice's administration: you have just over one year before a new governor takes office. You can either hunker down in a bunker mentality for the next year, or you can actively work with reporters in this state to ensure what we're reporting is accurate, even when it means sometimes you have to take some whacks.
The issues that have been reported about by myself and others in Justice's departments and agencies are not "gotcha" moments. They are serious issues that affect actual lives. Justice and administration officials should welcome the sunshine the media provides.