Bill Straub: Bevin stiff-arming state’s media does disservice to public and pursuit of accountability

WASHINGTON – Ben Bradlee, who would go on to become the legendary editor of The Washington Post, once wrote a story highly critical of then-President Lyndon Baines Johnson and his administration, leading LBJ to invite Bradlee, then working for Newsweek, into the Oval Office for what was sure to be a dressing down.

What Bradlee instead encountered were tepid protestations from the president, free of the vituperation and obscenities that usually accompanied such tet-a-tets with the big Texan. In fact, just to show there were no hard feelings Johnson offered Bradlee a scoop that could only be attributed to high White House sources and not the president himself – he was not going to reappoint J. Edgar Hoover as director of the FBI.

It was a big story and Bradlee dutifully reported it in the next edition of Newsweek. That afternoon, after the magazine hit the streets, Johnson held a press conference and reappointed Hoover.

With the gathering concluded, Johnson called his press secretary, Bill Moyers, to his side and whispered in his ear, “Call Ben Bradlee and tell him I said (BLANK) you.’’

The story is fairly illustrative of the give-and-take that frequently takes place between reporters and politicians ranging from the president of the United States down to the newly-elected council member of a sixth-class city. Scribes are forever digging up dirt, casting pols in a bad light and asking sometimes embarrassing questions. Office holders, and those seeking office, evade, avoid and occasionally outright lie as a form of protection.

On occasion they even tell the truth, something, as Mark Twain famously said, that will “confound your enemies and astound your friends.’’

It’s all about accountability. It was Ben Franklin who, when quizzed about what form of government would form the United States, replied, “A republic, if you can keep it.’’ Part of keeping the republic, which, at this time, let’s face it, is blowing black smoke out the tailpipe, is seeing to it that those elected to positions of governmental authority – and those who serve in the government – follow the straight and narrow.

That role throughout the nation’s history has most notably been filled by a news media that raises issues that the powerful would often like to avoid. Somebody has to shine a light on what goes on, and why, and no outlets have done that better over the decades than newspapers, radio and television. Because of that, as the late New York City columnist Jimmy Breslin once observed, “you’re supposed to be despised.’’ And that’s fine. Despise us if you will.

But now accountability itself is under attack and it’s on prominent display in Kentucky where Republican Gov. Matt Bevin generally snubs the press and then takes every opportunity to castigate it for its shortcomings, both real and imagined, characterizing it with words like “pathetic.’’

Bevin’s communications operation, led by Amanda Stamper, regularly ignores legitimate questions posed by members of the news media, failing to even show the common decency of returning phone calls. The Bevin press office makes extensive use of social media like Facebook and Twitter, Stamper said, because it allows it to “take our messages directly to the audiences we are trying to talk to, being able to break our own news, being able to control the message without having to go through the different filters that the media puts on things.”

Appearing on a panel sponsored by the University of Kentucky focusing on media relations, Stamper acknowledged the Bevin administration isn’t much interested in stories about the governor that attract a lot of attention on newspaper web sites because they “aren’t necessarily the things we think ought to be covered.’’

Exactly. That’s why they need to be covered. And that’s why the public should hold elected officials accountable and address issues raised outside their comfort zone.

Al Cross, director of the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues at the UK School of Journalism and Media, College of Communication and Information, a friend who authored an account of Stamper’s remarks that this column draws from, confronted Bevin’s mouthpiece, noting that plenty of people read the state’s major newspapers and watch television news.

They would like to hear responses from the governor’s office on vital issues and Cross wanted to know why “you won’t even show those reporters the courtesy of responding to their inquiries.’’

Stamper replied, “So, we are here tonight to talk to the students and answer their questions, so I will, um, take the chance to not answer that question.”

Another question asked. Another question unanswered.

Basically what Stamper and the Bevin administration are endeavoring to do is create its own TASS on Capitol Avenue, taking cues from the news agency that did such a bang-up job keeping the good people of Russia informed during the long-gone days of the Soviet. TASS was, to be polite, the propaganda arm of the Kremlin and it assured that the Communist government got its message delivered to the masses – no questions asked.

The Bevin administration is not involved in communications. It is not involved in press relations. It is involved in propaganda, using various friendly outlets and social media to distribute its message while willfully pushing aside the legitimate press that may raise an issue or two that might cast Mad Matt in something other than an admiring glow.

The most recent, and perhaps best, example deals with the governor’s living arrangements. With nine kids, it’s certainly possible the Governor’s Mansion isn’t adequate to handle the Bevin brood. So the family is now residing in some manse in upscale Anchorage that a company known as Anchorage Place LLC recently purchased for $1.6 million.

Now the governor, a wealthy businessman, can certainly afford his new digs. But the purchase raises all sorts of questions. For one thing, no one seems to know who owns Anchorage Place LLC – whether it’s the governor or some other individual or group. The price tag is well below the assessed value. The Jefferson County Property Valuation Administrator recently determined the house itself, sans property, is worth about $2.13 million.

The building was purchased from a group called The Anchorage LLC, owned and operated by Neil Ramsay and his wife, Anne. The Ramsays were big contributors to Bevin’s successful gubernatorial campaign and Neil Ramsay was recently appointed by Bevin to the Kentucky Retirement Systems board.

All of this was initially reported by Tom Loftus, the Frankfort bureau chief for The Courier-Journal in Louisville. And, as has become par for the course, Bevin’s office failed to respond to numerous phone calls and emails seeking comment on the transaction.

Finally, on Monday, cornered at a regional prayer breakfast in Corbin, Bevin told reporters, “Who I rent from, who I buy from, where I live, the things like that that are not publicly disclosable, are frankly not anybody’s interest.”

The governor, of course, is full of it. He can live wherever he wants but he can’t do so as a result of a sweetheart deal. Did he receive a sweetheart deal with the purchase price? Or, in the alternative, if the property was purchased by an entity that he doesn’t control, how much rent is he paying, or is he paying any rent at all?

The answers to questions like that are necessary to assure that Matt Bevin isn’t somehow personally profiting from his high government position.

It’s possible an explanation will clear up the mess – Ramsey told Loftus he received a fair price for the residence because it was over-valued by the PVA, although he curiously failed to contest the valuation. But Bevin’s distain keeps the situation muddled.

Ultimately the good people of Kentucky are going to have to make a decision here – are they going to hold their elected officials accountable and demand answers or not. Bevin and Stamper have already made their decision, operating a propaganda machine that demands that you pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.

I understand the rationale makes more sense when it’s written in cyrillic.

A republic, if you can keep it.

Washington correspondent Bill Straub served 11 years as the Frankfort Bureau chief for The Kentucky Post. He also is the former White House/political correspondent for Scripps Howard News Service. A member of the Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame, he currently resides in Silver Spring, Maryland, and writes frequently about the federal government and politics. Email him at williamgstraub@gmail.com.