I thought the media attention over a memo from the Governor’s Communications Director, Mark Warbis, was silly if predictable. The lead in the Idaho Statesman’s story says the memo “warns public employees to check with the governor before talking to the news media.” If you read the memo, which they conveniently provide, it says nothing of the sort. It only asks that departments inform the communications director AFTER they have spoken with the media — a pretty big difference and a very reasonable request. Similarly, asking that departments run news releases by the governor’s office before release — significant releases, not routine ones — is very reasonable. The communications director needs to know what’s going on in order to do his job.
The media people need to break out their dictionaries and look up the definition of “censorship”. If the Governor called the Statesman and said “if you run this story I will put you in jail”, that would be censorship. If the communications director is trying to ensure that information released to the public is accurate and consistent, that is called good management. (Robert)
MEMO ADMONISHES SOME STATE WORKERS
“A memo from Gov. Butch Otter’s communication director sent to department heads, including some employees of other elected officials, warns public employees to check with the governor before talking to the news media. The memo, sent last week by Communications Director Mark Warbis, says the governor’s office must be informed of all news media inquiries and says some agencies are not following that policy. “This has resulted in a number of instances of the governor’s office finding out about agency representatives’ interactions with the news media from the newspaper clips,” the memo reads. “In some cases those media reports actually have involved what amounts to public disagreements between state agencies over a point of policy. That is entirely unacceptable, and something we must address.”
See full article
Read the actual memo
Stateman Opinion Page Editor Kevin Ritchet’s commentary
