The governor doesn't read ... the newspapers: He sticks to TV

Gov. Robert Ehrlich doesn't read newspapers.

"It's not worth his time," said Greg Massoni, the governor's press secretary.

He doesn't read The Washington Post; he doesn't read the Baltimore Sun - and it's all part of a media strategy recommended by President George W. Bush, who sees the print media as a forum for bias.

"It does him absolutely no good to read their slant or their take on what was said," Massoni said. Instead, his staff keeps him updated with any newspaper articles he should have read.

Like Bush, Ehrlich is careful to keep the two big regional newspapers at a comfortable distance.

"We don't give them the time of day," Massoni said. "We deal with smaller newspapers; we deal with radio and television."

Since Ehrlich came into office, his administration has favored broadcast news, often making him difficult to reach for reporters from the two big regional newspapers: the Baltimore Sun and The Washington Post.

"He seems to think that the two established major papers in the state are out to get him," said Tim Craig, a reporter for The Washington Post and former reporter for the Baltimore Sun. "But he has made a lot of mistakes that any good news organization would highlight."

Ehrlich sees the broadcast media as a way to communicate directly with his constituents without the bias he believes the big metropolitan newspapers embed in their articles.

"Our policy is that we focus on TV and radio," Massoni said. "It is more direct to the public, with the least amount of slant that can be put into it."

WBFF FOX-45 is in daily communication with Ehrlich's press office, said reporter John Rydell.

"I would say that he is probably the most accessible governor we have had, from a TV standpoint," he said.

As the first Republican Maryland governor since Spiro Agnew, Ehrlich has been careful to maintain a close relationship with the local television media, Rydell said.

"In general, we spend time with those that we are going to get a fair shake from," Massoni said. This does not include the Sun or The Post, he said.

In 2002, the Sun editorial page endorsed Kathleen Kennedy Townsend for governor.

"[It said] that Lt. Gov. Michael Steele's only value to this ticket was the value of his skin," Massoni said.

"The Sun got away with making such a racial derogatory comment about someone who ... has offered so much to his community, so we don't waste our time with the Sun."

The governor has vowed not to communicate with the Sun's editorial board until the newspaper apologizes for the editorial, which is not likely to happen, said David Nitkin, the Sun's state house bureau chief.

As for The Post, the governor's press office is at odds with what it sees as biased reporting.

But Post reporter Tim Craig says a television-based agenda is simply the most favorable strategy for a governor as personable as Ehrlich.

"Gov. Ehrlich comes across quite well on television, although he might not say much," Craig said.

Ehrlich hasn't always been so distant to the print media - in 2002, as a campaign underdog, he regularly courted print journalists.

"He called it free media coverage," Nitkin said. "But his attitude toward the media quickly changed after he was elected."

Now the media interacts with him only in very controlled settings, usually at press conferences or public events.

"Obviously a governor cannot sit around and return media phone calls all day, but that said, it is very difficult to get a one-on-one interview with him," said Nitkin.

This forces the print media to shadow the governor at public appearances.

Each week, the governor releases his public schedule and reporters show up at events to interview him.

"He will pretty much stand there as long as it takes to fully answer questions," Nitkin said.

But every Tuesday, the Governor blocks off time to for interviews with the television media and smaller newspapers, Craig said.

"They base a lot of this on the same model as President Bush," said Craig. "Go to the smaller markets and the smaller papers and television."

Only recently, the governor gave Justin Palk, reporter from the Carroll County Times, and a handful of small newspaper reporters a series of exclusive interviews.

Gov. Ehrlich's press staff, like most administrations, also tends to play favoritism towards certain reporters, Craig said.

"They tend to play favorites with the media," he said.

"There are some reporters over the last two years with both papers that the administration has tried to at least temporarily shut out and not talk to."

But Massoni maintains that the governor speaks to the media outlets who represent him fairly.

"We do not distinguish between reporters," he said.

Ehrlich may caricature the print media as left-leaning, but Craig said the two major regional newspapers gave the same scrutiny to former Democratic Gov. Parris Glendening.

"We're just covering the news," Craig said.