First impressions are so important. They really set the stage for any relationship, big or small, moving forward.
That’s why so many were flabbergasted when President Donald Trump’s press secretary, Sean Spicer, held a press briefing on Saturday, Jan. 21, the day following Trump’s inauguration. The first official press briefing wasn’t scheduled until Monday, mind you, but Spencer took to the podium early, ready for a fight.
He lambasted “the media” for “egregious” offenses, which he called “irresponsible” and “reckless,” before saying that: “It goes two ways. We’re going to hold the press accountable as well.”
Spicer was riled up about an inaccurate tweet from a TIME reporter, Zeke Miller, who said the bust of Martin Luther King Jr. that sits on a table in the Oval Office of the White House had been removed. Well, it was there, he just didn’t see it.
And holy crap, Spicer legit freaked over reporting about the numbers of attendees at the inauguration. Perhaps it was his fragile emotional state, but he lied numerous times during his diatribe. He lied about lawn coverings, he lied about the numbers, and even went so far as to say, “This was the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration. Period!”
Whoa! Calm down, Mr. Spicer! We all want to see you make it to your second official press briefing without bursting a blood vessel!
Trump, and now his administration, both derided the media and played it like a fiddle during the divisive election season. But you don’t get to have it both ways. Funny thing, that First Amendment.
While TIME’s Miller definitely messed up, so did Spicer. They both asserted falsehoods as true. But what both of them did following their initial statements illustrates an important point: Once Miller found out he goofed, he immediately retracted the statement several times on Twitter, and even apologized. As journalists, that’s what we do. We get the facts, and if we get them wrong, we correct our error.
But did Spicer go back and correct his falsehoods? Nope! Why would he? We’re in the “post truth” era now, remember? One of Trump’s advisors, Kellyanne Conway, actually called Spicer’s lies “alternative facts.” Talk about double speak, my little birdbrain is spinning!
This also illustrates the stupidity of Spicer’s statement that, “We are going to hold the press accountable.” Dude, really? That’s not your freakin’ job! You’re supposed to come out to the podium, tell us what the president is up to, and NOT LIE to the American people!
It’s actually the press that holds the press accountable, by the way, not the government. Trust me, as a reporter, if you get something wrong, it’s usually a reporter who tells you about it.
That’s what Sun Staff Writer David Minsky had to do when he discovered that several local news outlets had run a story fabricated by the Santa Maria Police Department (“Truth or lives,” Dec. 8) to help protect witnesses in the Operation Matador gang bust. Minsky had to contact all these media outlets—top editors specifically—to get their comment on the story, which was news to them to begin with.
That’s a call you don’t ever want to receive: “Hi! You messed up. Care to comment?”
And that story was plenty of peoples’ first impression of Santa Maria, the SMPD, and Chief Ralph Martin. Worldwide media picked up the story, so Martin and his ruse press release rose to the top of “fake news” searches quickly.
But you know what? When approached by the Sun, Martin didn’t get upset, he didn’t lie, and he definitely didn’t try to intimidate us. He answered truthfully, probably knowing full well the blizzard of phone calls he would face in the days to follow. And he took those calls like a champ too, making his case to the Washington Post and many others.
That’s what we should expect of a public official. Sure, Martin used local media for a strategic lie, but once this was found out—after the witnesses were already safe, mind you—he copped to the truth. And he continued to answer for it.
There are some other local officials who could take a page from Martin’s book (not the fake press release page) and try to make a better first impression with the public and the press.
For a start, maybe don’t mention an effort to “get around” the Brown Act, as one recently elected official mentioned to a Sun staff writer over the phone recently. That’s the kind of thing that sends faces towards palms, but it’s also the kind of careless statement that sends reporters digging through documents.
Talking about the Brown Act, the Lompoc City Council should take a note from Santa Maria’s and up the transparency in the city government. The Lompoc City Council received its second Brown Act warning from the DA’s Office last year—the first one was in 2014—due to closed-door meetings about real estate dealings regarding city-owned property, which the city considered selling to the California Space Center.
C’mon people, it’s not that hard to have an open, public meeting. You know, that thing you’re elected to do? Oddly enough, it was the only Lompoc City Council member who wasn’t elected—appointee Jim Mosby—who actually tried to do anything about the initial transparency concerns from city residents. He held a transparency forum following the complaints, but the DA’s Office still issued the warning.
A warning is bad, but so is alluding to the convenience of an exemption from the Brown Act, as the aforementioned and to-remain-unnamed official (you know who you are) remarked so cavalierly during a phone call with a Sun reporter.
It’s easy to gaffe, but if you’re new to the job, you should probably take a moment to think before you speak.
For example, at the Santa Maria City Council meeting on Jan. 17, Mayor Alice Patino asked for oral reports from each council member on what they had done for the city during the recess from the last meeting of 2016 and the first meeting of 2017.
Each member had plenty to say and report, that is until it was Michael Moats’ turn. Moats, who took the oath of office on Dec. 20, joked openly about how little time he spent focusing on Santa Maria during the recess.
“Well, I spent the last week running around the great state of Texas not doing much for Santa Maria, but I had a great time,” Moats said.
“Did you bring any jobs back from Texas to Santa Maria?” Patino asked, laughing.
“No Madam Mayor,” he replied cheekily.
I understand if Moats was on a vacation or a business trip or some other endeavor in Texas, but openly joking in session about how little you’ve done during your first month as a City Council member?
Doesn’t make a great first impression, does it?
The Canary is great at first impressions. Send your thoughts to canary@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Jan 26 – Feb 2, 2017.
