Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, May 6, 1990 TAG: 9005060260
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARGIE FISHER RICHMOND BUREAU
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Long
As the first black elected governor in the nation and as a Democrat who is widely viewed as a prospective national candidate, Wilder is obviously a hot topic and has been in much demand among Virginia, national and international news organizations.
He has tried hard to meet the demand, sometimes squeezing three or four interviews into his 16- to 18-hour workdays.
In the four months since his inauguration, Wilder has done about 70 interviews with journalists representing organizations as far afield as a radio station in Australia to a small weekly newspaper on the state's Eastern Shore, from Virginia Commonwealth University's campus publications to Newsweek.
Most were scheduled in advance. But in many instances Wilder's press secretary, Laura Dillard, found a way to allow a reporter to pop into the governor's office for a few minutes or to interview him by telephone.
Dillard said the governor's office was originally surprised when the national media's fascination with Wilder - very apparent during his campaign for governor - continued past his history-making inauguration weekend.
As one sign of the national interest, reporters from the Cable News Network in Atlanta call Wilder's newsline number each week to check his schedule.
On the other hand, Wilder and his press secretary are clearly enjoying the continuing attention. And, if Wilder is not actively courting it, he has certainly done nothing to discourage it.
Each of his out-of-state trips has fueled speculation about his national ambitions, and reams of copy about a budding rivalry with the Rev. Jesse Jackson. Rare is the week when Wilder is not prominently mentioned in a political column published outside of Virginia.
On April 21, for instance, the National Journal ran a column by a prominent political analyst, William Schneider, calling Wilder "the clear front-runner for the vice presidential slot" on the Democratic ticket in 1992. The day before, nationally syndicated columnist William Rusher also wrote that it was almost a "cinch" that Wilder would be the vice presidential nominee.
Then, taking note of Wilder's trip to Atlanta to appear before the Jackson-founded National Rainbow Coalition Saturday night,The Wall Street Journal ran a story Thursday under the headline "Virginia Gov. Wilder, Mr. Inside, Challenges a More Charismatic Mr. Outside, Jesse Jackson."
"We don't have to try to generate this coverage," Dillard said. "We accept the invitations that are extended to us and all of a sudden, wow! . . ."
Dillard said she expects Wilder's trip next month to New Hampshire - one of the early presidential primary states - will kick off a new wave of national stories and demands for interviews.
But Dillard stressed that Wilder's first priority is governing the state and that in-state press coverage is of higher priority to him than national coverage.
"The governor is convinced and I'm convinced that we have to do the best job we can do here. . . . If we don't do a good job in Virginia, then some of the other talk that's out there may be for naught."
She added that "the end result of that talk is not our concern" for the time being. "It's not something we discuss."
In addition to interviews, Wilder - more than recent governors - regularly makes himself available to answer statehouse reporters' questions if they can catch him on Capitol grounds or before or after speeches and other public events.
Dillard tends to promote these "press availability" opportunities, and Wilder tends to linger with reporters, whereas many governors seemed to want to bolt as fast as they could.
He has also been quick to accept invitations to attend meetings of press organizations, where he usually gives a speech and takes questions.
He has attended a Richmond-based Capital Correspondents Association dinner meeting, the Associated Press banquet during a meeting of the Virginia Press Association, the United Press International Broadcasters convention in Virginia Beach, a National Press Club luncheon in Washington, D.C., a Radio and TV Correspondents' Association dinner in Washington, a Gridiron Club dinner in Washington, the American Society of Newspaper Editors' convention in Washington, and the White House Correspondents' dinner in Washington.
Unlike recent governors, however, Wilder seems disinclined to have traditional news conferences. He has had only three formal news conferences at the Capitol since taking office: One on Feb. 1 to promote the state's tax amnesty program; one on Feb. 9 to announce members of his economic advisory council; and one on Feb. 28 to announce the appointment of his secretary of transportation. Although he was not reluctant to answer questions on other subjects at those news conferences, time limitations were restrictive.
He has yet to have an open-ended news conference where reporters could ask free-wheeling questions on a broad range of subjects.
As governor, Wilder has, in fact, had more news conferences outside of Virginia than in the state Capitol.
He had one in Chicago before speaking at a Democratic Party unity dinner there in March; he joined Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley for a news conference in California in March to promote Virginia's film industry; and he participated in a couple of news conferences while attending a February meeting of the National Governors Association in Washington.
Dillard said Wilder is uncomfortable facing a mob of reporters at a news conference, "But I guess we feel like he's so accessible [in other ways] that to hold a press conference would be maybe redundant."
Chris Bridge, press secretary to former Gov. Gerald Baliles - who had 63 news conferences during his 1986-90 term - agreed that it's a decision that "comes down to style. It's really is tied to what they are personally comfortable with."
Bridge, along with many Virginia reporters, said there is "an entirely different dynamic" in news conferences as opposed to one-on-one interviews.
"It's what some have termed the wolf-pack effect," she said, and many reporters like such conferences because "it tests the executives and their ability to respond" when they have less control over where the questions may lead, she said.
In contrast, a one-on-one interview is frequently arranged to discuss a specific subject. While the reporter may get an exclusive story out of the interview, it is also easier in this setting for a governor to turn aside tough questions or prohibit a reporter from asking questions beyond a certain topic. "It lets the governor control the situation a lot more," said Mo Donaldson, a reporter with the Virginia News Network.
But there can be advantages for a governor in holding an orchestrated news conference. A major announcement made at a news conference gets widespread attention.
"Everywhere you turn on the dial or in every newspaper you pick up you see the governor talking about it." A governor who does not hold news conferences "loses an ability to go directly to the people with his message," Donaldson said.
From the press's standpoint, a pattern of regularly established news conferences reduces the possibility that a governor will hide in the event of a major controversy, Donaldson said.
There is also the advantage of more equitable distribution of news, since many news organizations that do not have Richmond-based reporters usually will send somebody in to cover a scheduled news conference.
Nate Custer, a reporter with WTKR-TV in Norfolk, said he wasn't complaining because Wilder has gone to lengths to be accessible. "If you can catch him at a ribbon-cutting or something, you can always pull him aside and ask him a couple of questions. And he's real patient. But I would like to have the opportunity to sit down and cover a wide range of things at a press conference where everybody gets the benefit of everybody else's questions."
***CORRECTION***
Published correction ran on May 8, 1990\ Corrections
Gov. Douglas Wilder's press secretary, Laura Dillard, said Wilder is not uncomfortable facing reporters at news conferences. Because of an editor's error, a story Sunday about how Wilder relates to the news media quoted Dillar as saying the opposite.
Memo: correction