ANALYSIS
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — At the top of Building 3 on the state Capitol grounds, a new communications hub for Gov. Jim Justice’s administration is taking shape.
The Executive Branch Communications Hub is meant to bring together expertise from the agencies of the executive branch for cohesive messages.
The hub may provide not only press releases but also livestream video, video clips, photographs, social media and graphic arts efforts.
Representatives of traditional newspaper and broadcast groups are intrigued by the effort but wonder what the communications balance will be under a governor who has abruptly excused himself from news conferences and fussed routinely over coverage.
Many would consider it improvement if they could just get their calls returned.
“It’s not just black and white,” said Don Smith, director of the West Virginia Press Association. “We’ve got to see what they’re doing and how they do it.”
In other words, will it wind up being a hub or a chokehold?
Communications hub
The effort to consolidate the executive branch’s communications efforts began with Gov. Jim Justice, said Bray Cary, the governor’s senior adviser.
Justice wants to be more efficient. But he also recognizes that the public’s consumption of information is changing, Cary said in a telephone interview.
“So the governor said we need to figure out better ways to get our message out, but we also need to be able to let people know the details of what’s happening in government,” Cary said.
“It would be the good things happening in government but also the things in government that need to be fixed and changed to make it more efficient.”
Cary has an extensive media background.
He was the founder of Creative Sports, a sports and marketing production company in Charlotte that was acquired by ESPN. He became a vice president with NASCAR. Returning home, he became president of West Virginia Media Holdings, which had TV stations across the state.
So he’s taking that broad experience — plus a reputation for control — and shaping the communications hub.
“It’s all about being able to try to give the media what it wants, but also as we’re seeing people disengage from traditional ways of consuming information to make sure we’re using Facebook and Twitter and other ways to communicate with the population,” Cary said.
Asked about concerns that a centralized communications hub might wind up overly centralized, Cary offered some pushback.
“How can it control the message?” he asked. “We’re providing the information. You guys are still there. Everybody’s there. What we’re about is getting the information out to the public.”
Reaching out
At the beginning, it was a challenge just to get information for this story.
After hearing more and more about the communications hub, MetroNews sent a series of questions by email on Sept. 6. The email went to Cary, Communications Director Butch Antolini, Jordan Damron, the governor’s assistant legal counsel and digital director, and to Commerce Communications Director Samantha Smith.
Initially, there was no acknowledgement.
On Sept. 17, MetroNews followed up: “Hello. I was hoping to make sure you all received this email.”
There was still no response.
Later that day, MetroNews sent a request under the Freedom of Information Act for communications related to what had been discussed casually as the “iHub.” It was the wrong term. The response came back that there were no applicable documents.
On Sept. 18, the communications hub got a brief, in-person visit from me.
I walked into Building 3, rode the elevator to the eighth floor and was wandering the hallway when I was greeted by Glen Flanagan, a communications specialist. I told him I heard the hub was taking shape and, conversationally, said I would like to know more. Then I left.
On Sept. 20, Samantha Smith called, offering to meet and explain the communications hub concept.
The interview was set for this past Tuesday, Sept. 25, on the eighth floor of Building 3. In addition to talking about the communications hub, Smith also provided written responses to the original questions.
“I’m very excited,” Smith said. “I can see the effects. I know what the team we have now in Commerce Communications is capable of. I’m excited to grow that. I’m excited to show what we can do.”
Many of the offices for the communications hub, although bright and modern, remain empty. That should change over the next few months, as the executive branch identifies and assigns existing agency communications staff to work with the hub.
“We’re still determining how teams are to be formed,” Smith said. “We’re still looking at who’s available to fill out those rosters.”
The objective is to have a range of skills that may be a challenge for any single agency to match. “We think we can provide a lot of efficiencies by pulling some people together,” Smith said.
Rollout
Some of the effects of the communications hub have been apparent already.
When Governor Justice appointed Tim Armstead and Evan Jenkins to temporarily serve on the state Supreme Court, media outlets were sent Dropbox files with a press release, biographies, photo galleries and video interview clips. The event was also streamed live.
“One of the things we’re trying to provide is video cuts for stations who can’t be here,” said Kelsey Takitch, the newly-hired executive producer of communications for the hub.
Speaking of the event for the court appointments, Takitch said, “All media outlets had the opportunity to do their own interviews, but if newspapers or TV stations were looking for sound bites, that’s available.”
Gov. Justice has been subject of at least two topical, professionally-produced videos. The video ability of the Governor’s Office has been enhanced by the hiring of local television veterans like Takitch, formerly of WSAZ, and Hillary Kemerer, who has worked at WSAZ and WOWK-TV.
One of recent videos dealt with an improved revenue picture for state government over the past year.
It was played at the Business Summit at The Greenbrier, the resort owned by the governor’s family, before his appearance on stage. It was played then again at a press conference where the governor began by scolding reporters and then moved on to celebrate the good numbers.
The other depicted West Virginia’s efforts to promote tourism and was shown prior to a statewide tourism conference in Morgantown, where the governor was speaking.
Don Smith of the Press Association has concerns that the efforts could “turn a press conference into a campaign rally. My one real experience was at the tourism convention where the governor spoke. It was well done, but he had walkup music.
“Maybe that’s appropriate at the tourism conference. I’m not saying it’s not. But would it be appropriate at any press conference? It does give them an ability to package things in a way I worry about.”
There have been other results already, too. When Hurricane Florence was bearing down on the region, the communications hub aimed to be at the center of a broad executive branch effort to disseminate information about weather effects, highways and even options to seek shelter at state parks.
But there have been missteps that have continued to rankle local media.
During the Florence buildup, WCHS-TV complained about lack of access to an update by Justice.
. @WVGovernor holds a briefing on preps for Hurricane Florence, doesn’t invite or allow the media in, following requests. Sends out a video shot by his staff. That’s not how this works, that’s not how any of this is supposed to work.
— Kallie Cart (@KallieCartWCHS) September 14, 2018
WSAZ-TV contended that it got no cooperation from state officials into a look at how Child Protective Services is operating in West Virginia. The station said its emails, phone calls and messages were ignored or denied over an eight-week span.
Systems in place to protect children are overwhelmed due to https://t.co/vw8XowRZ3H.’s drug crisis. After two people working for CPS were arrested weeks apart, we started asking questions. When state leaders refused to answer them, we kept digging.https://t.co/HNrhum48N6
— Jatara McGee (@WSAZJatara) September 25, 2018
When the Ogden newspapers were trying to report an update on how the state Department of Commerce is functioning, they too hit walls. The story wound up being about how the interim secretary for the agency was flying under the radar.
I don’t know who put the lid on. I assume the Gov’s office since all the departmental comms offices appear to be centrally controlled now. Point being though had they simply allowed me to interview Burch this would have been a pretty straight-forward story, not “Where’s Waldo.”
— Steven Allen Adams (@stevenadamswv) September 2, 2018
This is all up against the context of a governor who has been combative with state media.
Governor Justice sometimes offers “ask me anything” — and in many of those cases he will take the time to address anything. But sometimes he has been known to say he doesn’t have the time and then to walk out.
At his most recent press conference, the press asked nothing. Instead, Justice said he was running short on time, anticipated questions and quickly addressed several hot topics.
WV MetroNews – Justice presser runs the gamut; gives answers to what he thinks reporters may ask: https://t.co/qhZHwUhPo4
— Jeff Jenkins (@JeffJenkinsMN) September 21, 2018
And, over the past months, he has consistently fussed about coverage. At one press conference, he suggested reporters should focus on beauty such as the flowers in front of the Capitol. During a rally with President Donald Trump, he held a Charleston Gazette-Mail aloft with criticism.
“We are hurt when we report something that isn’t the news…those who want to distort and pull us down need exposed,” Justice said, opening up a Sept. 4 press conference.
The governor’s challenging relationship with state media presents a concern with the communications hub, said Smith of the press association.
“In all honesty, he hasn’t been extremely accessible to the media and we haven’t had the best access. So that’s a concern,” Don Smith said. “Will this reduce that?”
Gray areas
All this is tricky to talk about in the Smith household.
Don Smith of the West Virginia Press Association is married to Samantha Smith, who is heading up the communications hub as it takes shape.
Each acknowledged that conflict as they spoke for this story. Don Smith went out of his way to insist it should be addressed here.
Don Smith, along with many Capitol observers, had heard generally about the communications hub but knew few details until they were described by MetroNews.
“We try to keep that separate as much as we can but obviously my wife is involved with this. I understand there is a big conflict, and it’s a work in progress in terms of what I know and what I don’t,” Don Smith said.
“We recognize we’re both professionals with different jobs and we try to eliminate the discussion of the internal workings as much as we can to avoid the conflict. At the same time we both have to do our jobs.”
Don Smith does not dismiss the efforts of the communications hub out of hand, but he does have concerns about how it will function and what might be the effects on how West Virginians get their news.
He and the newspapers in his organization — many of which are rural — have expressed appreciation for the video streaming of executive branch events. They are accustomed to getting press releases with canned quotes from government officials.
“So for us to say ‘We’ve been using them, but we don’t like them,’ that’s a problem. The goal is probably admirable,” Don Smith said.
“That being said we get into the gray area, we have to watch how it’s done. Any abuse of that system – We don’t want to see ‘Instead of press conferences; we’re going to release a video clip.’ We’re not saying that’s going to happen but that would be a concern.”
His counterpart at the West Virginia Broadcasters Association, Michele Crist, expressed similar sentiments. She acknowledged resources could be shared but worried that the hub might actually result in a bottleneck.
“One promising thing that comes out of this is some of these agencies might have more resources because some of them may be understaffed and they might not have the technology.,” Crist said.
“But they’ve already hired communication experts in those agencies. The knowledge they bring to the table when they’re in the department is invaluable. When you’re in a hub like that they’re going to have to get back to you. How many people are they getting back to because they weren’t the ones to answer the question? You can’t be an expert on everything. That’s tough.”
She also worried about the effects of centralized communications and who might be in control of the messages.
“You’re already centralizing it already. There’s not much balance. It’s going to come from one group and they’ll carry out the message,” Crist said.
“You already are very centralized in what you want people to know, and that’s how you’ll carry out your workload.”
‘Not an end-around’
Samantha Smith, asked about concerns like those, said the communications hub is not meant to circumvent traditional media in West Virginia.
Her background is in newspapers. She has been advertising sales director for the Charleston Gazette-Mail, for the press association itself and for the Inter-Mountain in Elkins, one of the Ogden newspapers.
“The goal is not to cut traditional media out by any means,” she said. “We’re also very cognizant that people are consuming media in different ways, and we want to touch those folks. It’s not meant to be an end-around. Not at all.”
In the Governor’s Office, Cary also says the effort is meant to enhance, rather than suppress, communication with the public. He said the communications hub remains still a couple of months from being really up and running.
“We’ve got some stations that are far away and don’t have the manpower, sometimes don’t have the resources,” Cary said. “There’s a lot of radio stations, and a lot of those are mom and pop operations or local operations that don’t have the ability to send people to Charleston.
“So what we’re trying to do is make all the stories we do available across every platform, whether that’s a report for a television station or a radio station or newspaper or social media. We’re seeing results from it.”
The press association’s Don Smith, for one, will be watching how this develops. His biggest concern is whether public access to the goings on of West Virginia government is truly improved or if it is controlled.
“Greater public access is always good – and transparency. A controlled message isn’t necessarily good. Every elected official has a right to control their message, but they don’t have a right to control what the media has access to,” Smith said.
“It’s very difficult to criticize the goals of this. That would be ideal, it sounds like everything is improving. Let’s see how it works.”