The governor’s office has been keeping communications tight. Three state politics reporters discuss the unusual lack of access and its public impact.

Another surprising aspect of the first few months of the Ferguson administration was a lack of communication with the public, particularly through the press.

Gov. Bob Ferguson was slow to hold weekly press conferences during the first few months of the legislative session and slow to provide reporters with information about his whereabouts. He also sent a memo to state agencies requiring all public communication to go through the governor’s office before it is released.

In this episode, host Sara Bernard sits down with Cascade PBS reporter Laurel Demkovich, Washington State Standard reporter Jerry Cornfield and Axios reporter Melissa Santos to discuss the unusually limited access to the governor’s office so far, and why that matters.

Despite multiple requests, Governor Ferguson’s office did not grant us an interview for this series. Read more about Governor Ferguson from reporter Laurel Demkovich here.

---
Credits

Reporter: Laurel Demkovich

Host/Producer: Sara Bernard

Story editor: Ryan Famuliner

Executive producer: Sarah Menzies

Production Manager: Adam Brown

---

Northwest Reports is made possible by listeners like you. If you would like to join the members who help us create this series, go to cascadepbs.org/nwreports. In addition to supporting our journalism, members receive great member benefits, including Cascade PBS Passport, with extended access to an on-demand library of local and PBS favorites.