THOUGHTS ON WHAT IT TAKES TO BE A PRESS SECRETARY

PERSPECTIVE FROM THE 19^TH HOLE: This is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus to use an image from my favorite sport, golf. Out of college, my first job was as a reporter for the Daily Astorian in Astoria, Oregon, and I went on from there to practice writing in all of my professional positions, including as press secretary in Washington, D.C. for a Democrat Congressman from Oregon, as an Oregon state government manager in Salem and Portland, as press secretary for Oregon’s last Republican governor (Vic Atiyeh), and as a private sector lobbyist. This blog also allows me to link another favorite pastime – politics and the art of developing public policy – to what I write.

The headline for this blog may seem a bit arcane, but I write about this subject — being a press secretary for a top government official — having been one in my past.

I served as press secretary for Oregon’s last Republican governor, the late Victor Atiyeh.

It was a position I took very seriously, for I had to strike the right balance between advocating for my boss, the governor, and shooting straight with the media.

Fortunately for me, Governor Atiyeh expected me to do my job with accuracy, ethics and credibility.

I writer all of this to submit that the role of press secretary in the White House has changed dramatically — and not for the better.

The current one for President Donald Trump, Stephanie Grisham, fancies herself only as an advocate for Trump, not a conduit for the press.

For one thing, she has not held one briefing for the press in the White House as had become a tradition for her predecessors. Not one. Zero.

She shows no signs of relenting on this. She said she thinks “reporters use the briefings to grandstand,” so she studiously avoids the role.

Grisham, of course, took her place in a less-than-distinguished line of Trump-era press secretaries. Sean Spicer peddled lies about the Trump inauguration crowd on his first day. Sarah Sanders exuded contempt at almost all points along the way. And Anthony Scaramucci flamed out in days.

Washington Post media analyst Margaret Sullivan wrote a piece over the weekend asking whether Grisham was the worst-ever White House press secretary. Sullivan answered “no” because, she said, Grisham functions as an acolyte of Trump, not a press secretary.

In her reporting, Sullivan relied, in part, on perceptions from Joe Lockhart, who served as press secretary for President Bill Clinton.

“Your main job,” Lockhart contends, “is to advocate for the press within the government. You have to make sure that the information going out to the American public and to the world is accurate and complete.

“And the reason for daily briefings? They tend to force decisions to get made in a sensible way — they reduce impetuousness and procrastination.”

When things get particularly ugly — as, for example, during the period when Clinton was being impeached — Lockhart says the need for briefings is even greater because the public is justifiably more hungry for information.

Grisham mirrors Trump when, instead of talking with reporters, she fires off aggressive tweets, often disparaging journalists, and frequently makes appearances on the Trump propaganda network, Fox News, or the even more right wing and equally friendly OANN.

She co-wrote an offensive op-ed piece harshly criticizing two Washington Post reporters for an accurate story that Trump didn’t like.

And, as Trump sycophant, she had this to say about former White House chief of staff John F. Kelly: “He was totally unequipped to handle the genius of our great President.” Or she eagerly agreed with Trump that his critics are “human scum.”

It would not be accurate fully to compare press secretary jobs in Oregon and Washington, D.C., but I have a few thoughts about what should characterize the job wherever it is located.

Are they big thoughts?

Perhaps not.

Are they worth considering?

Who knows? But, for my part, I think they are brilliant.

• Put your best foot forward in representing your boss, but don’t descend to lies, rumor, innuendo or name-calling.
• Strive for accuracy and context because both are critically important.

[Permit an example here. Back when I served as press secretary for Governor Atiyeh, the time came for us to decide whether and, if so how, to issue a report on the number of jobs state government had helped the private sector to create. First, note the phrase, “helped the private sector to create jobs.” That was our job; not to create the jobs ourselves. Second, we needed to strive for accuracy and context so our report, under inevitable scrutiny, would stand up under that scrutiny. Facts matter. The context in which those facts lie also matters. Think about this with regard to Grisham and Trump: Neither has any commitment to accuracy or context.]

• Understand that, in the end, you work for taxpayers who pay your salary.
• Recognize that one of your tasks is to build credibility for government, something which sorely is lacking in today’s version of government, both in Washington, D.C. and Oregon.

One more point is worth making here. One of the great traits of Governor Atiyeh, one I admired and tried to replication was this: He didn’t care who got the credit when something good happened – he only wanted to produce “something good.”

Wouldn’t that be healthy if that model existed today – both in the top-level public officials, as well as in the press secretaries who represent them?