Gov. Jim Justice is notoriously thin skinned. His world view is divided between those who he perceives as 100% on board with him, while on the other side is anyone who does not share his perspective or dares to question him.
That especially holds true with the press. Justice apparently sees reporters as extensions of himself and his administration. They should be advocates for what Justice deems as “good news” for the state.
In West Virginia, the press does consistently report on stories that Justice defines as “good” — economic development announcements, ground breakings, positive state financial numbers, national tourism recognitions and the like.
However, it is also the responsibility of the press, acting on behalf of the public, to ask about and report on all the news, and some stories are more difficult and may not reflect well on the state, Justice or his administration.
At MetroNews, most of that responsibility for covering Justice falls to Brad McElhinny, a veteran reporter who is liked and respected not only in our newsroom, but also among his peers. In late July, for the third week in a row, McElhinny got no reply to a request to ask the governor a question in his briefing.
This happened after McElhinny asked Justice two briefings in a row about different aspects of financial problems with his businesses. One was about a federal judge ordering receivership and liquidation of Bluestone Mineral, a holding company. The second was about Justice-owned property lots being sold at auction because property taxes went unpaid for so long.
During one of the briefings, the governor — without prompting — launched into a criticism obviously aimed at McElhinny, even though he did not mention the reporter by name.
“If it gets to the point in time when things are totally absurd, totally ridiculous, fake news and stuff and everything, it just goes on and on, won’t stop, won’t stop and everything, then we got to go in a different direction,” Justice said.
For the record, reporting on the myriad financial problems and legal fights involving the family businesses that Justice still controls is hardly “fake news.” The questions are in the public interest — in particular, the question of unpaid property taxes in Raleigh, Monroe and McDowell counties. Property taxes in West Virginia go to support public school districts, local libraries, police, public parks and additional local government services.
The press does not have to go digging for stories about the Justice companies’ finances; they pop up almost weekly in court filings and legal claims over non-payment, slow payment, property seizures and, in one recent instance, liens placed by the state Tax Department over the Greenbrier’s failure to remit sales tax collections for a number of months.
One of the reasons Justice was elected was because of his supposed business acumen. “I done done it,” he liked to say. And Justice never placed his many businesses in a trust, so therefore he is still in charge. It is fair to report on these stories, especially since Justice is now the leading candidate for the United States Senate.
McElhinny’s questions to the governor were asked in a respectful way and they were intended to give the governor an opportunity to present his side of the story. Instead, Justice chose to blame McElhinny and block him from asking questions at future briefings.
The problem with his actions is not just that MetroNews has less access to the executive branch, but that the governor has decided some areas of questioning are off limits. He can respond to questions how he wants, but the existence of the questions is not up to him to decide.
When Justice blocks reporters from asking those questions, West Virginians are the ones left without answers.
