Gibbons embraces podcasts

Gov. Jim Gibbons wants to talk to you.

The governor wants to address you directly, look you in the eye over his desk in the Capitol, and explain his policies and positions. Thanks to technology, he can.

"Hello, I'm Jim Gibbons," he says. "Thanks for checking in to keep updated on what's happening in Carson City. The legislative session is under way, and there's already been plenty of talk about my proposed state budget."

Gibbons last month began recording video podcasts and posting them on his state Web site. In each of the Web videos, which can be downloaded to a mobile device such as an iPod if you crave the governor on the go, he takes up a topic that's on his mind and explains where he stands.

The podcasts allow Gibbons to make his case directly to Nevadans, without any argument from political opponents or contrary facts.

There have been four so far. The first, a "general message," explained his budget philosophy and lambasted legislators who "have chosen to criticize my budget while offering no alternative of their own."

In the second, on higher education, Gibbons explained the massive cuts his proposed budget would make to the state's colleges and universities, saying, "There's a lot of misinformation out there on this aspect of my budget, and I want to make sure you get my side of the story."

The third gubernatorial podcast presented Gibbons' views on the proposed nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, defending his proposed cuts to the state agency dedicated to fighting the project.

Gibbons demanded that President Barack Obama make good on promises to kill the repository and take on the state's lately resurgent pro-Yucca voices.

"Yucca Mountain is an archaic idea," Gibbons said.

Last week, he posted his fourth message, on the federal stimulus bill and how it could affect the state's financial situation.

Although the federal money will help, he said, "The stimulus money will not erase the multibillion-dollar budget deficit facing the state, and it will not alleviate the need for elected officials in Carson City to make tough decisions to balance the budget."

Gibbons said his former communications director, Ben Kieckhefer, proposed the podcasts, and his current communications director, Daniel Burns, made the idea happen.

"In the 21st century, we all have to be aware of the means by which communication with the public is expanding," Gibbons said.

"Taking advantage of that 21st century technology gets to people who sometimes don't want to read but they want to sit on a computer and listen and watch. We're simply trying to expand our reach of contact with the public."

Gibbons has an iPod, but uses it strictly for music and the occasional audiobook on the rare occasions when he's out of cell phone range and wants to relax, he said.

"To me, it is no different than standing in front of the public giving a verbal speech," he said. "It's very much similar to that, and as a result I've enjoyed it."

Unlike a live speech, Gibbons noted, he is able to re-record the videos until he gets them right. One podcast took 11 takes, according to Burns, although two or three is the norm.

"I'm sure there are some outtakes that are going to be really funny, but those aren't being released," the governor said. "That's the part I really enjoy: laughing at myself when I make a mistake."

In media interviews, what the governor has to say usually must be condensed into a quick quotation, but in the podcasts, he can expound at length.

"It's a way for people to hear exactly how something was said and the breadth of the information," he said. "We don't have to limit it to a 15-second sound bite that is most commonly required in print media and television."

For a politician who has had a rocky relationship with the media and low marks from the public throughout his two years in office, it's a good idea to create a venue where he can't be contradicted, drawn off-topic or blunder into a gaffe, said Ryan Erwin, a Las Vegas-based Republican political strategist.

"The purpose of it is to get a venue where he can completely control the message, which is smart when used effectively," Erwin said.

"I don't think it's all of a sudden improved the governor's approval ratings, but it does give him a vehicle to talk about what he wants to talk about. For a governor who has been consistently uncomfortable around live media, this is a way to do it his way."

The political world has been somewhat slow to adapt to the world of new media, but it's increasingly catching on. The presidential campaign of Barack Obama remains the gold standard of Internet political organizing.

Nevada politicians also are getting acquainted with new communication tools.

Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., last week posted a YouTube video explaining an amendment he was proposing to repeal the Washington, D.C., gun ban. He posted on a YouTube channel he also uses to post his speeches on the floor of the Senate.

Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas, did a little blogging from last year's Democratic convention in Denver, although she has not had time to keep it up.

Elected officials, especially those who consider the media biased against them, may see the news media as a "filter" that distorts or ignores their intended message.

Gibbons has frequently expressed hostility toward the media, but he said that's not what the podcasts are about.

Erwin said blogs, e-mails, podcasts and the like are great ways for politicians to get information out, but they're no substitute for productive engagement with the news media, which he said Gibbons has never mastered.

"The Internet is a great way to share information, but it also has less public credibility because it's a one-sided message," he said. "What any candidate or elected official still needs to be doing is partnering with the media to get the message out."

Gibbons "got off on the wrong foot with the media immediately," Erwin said. "I think some of what has been brought on him has been unfair, but a lot of it has been self-inflicted."

In podcast No. 1, Gibbons says, a bit sarcastically, "Democratic legislative leaders released a plan to have a plan for a budget."

He continues: "I disagree with the approach they've outlined. It essentially allows every interest group in the state to come to the Legislature and identify the amount of money they want. Then the Legislature will propose tax increases to fund their wish list."

Democrats would take issue with that characterization of their budget plan, which they say creates a transparent and deliberative process to ensure the state's needs are met and scarce funds are not being wasted.

Later in the same podcast, Gibbons proclaims, "Folks, now more than ever, I will stick to my 'no new taxes' promise."

He doesn't mention that, to some in the anti-tax movement, he already has broken that promise by including the voter-approved 3-point hotel room tax hike in his budget.

"I admit, my plans are not all popular," the governor says. "But they are all necessary."

Podcast No. 2 seems aimed mainly at University System Chancellor Jim Rogers, whose crusade to get more funding for higher education has recently taken on a more personal tone against the governor.

Gibbons laments the "misinformation" he says is rampant, saying, "We have all heard repeatedly that higher education is being cut by 50 percent. Folks, that is simply not the case."

Gibbons points out that the state's funding for higher education as a whole is being cut by 36 percent.

The frequently cited 50 percent statistic does have a basis in fact that Gibbons doesn't mention, however. It applies to the state's two universities: the University of Nevada, Reno would have its funding cut 47 percent and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas 52 percent.

In his most recent podcast, Gibbons makes a compassion-based plea for state support for Medicaid, demand for which is increasing thanks to economic conditions.

"We have a social and moral responsibility to ensure that Nevadans who lose their jobs through no fault of their own are not left in the cold when it comes to health care."

But Gibbons' proposed budget would leave thousands of uninsured Nevada children in the cold by capping and possibly reducing enrollment in the Nevada Check Up program, said Assembly Speaker Buckley.

Gibbons' statement, she said, "would seem to be at odds with that budget decision."

Buckley said she's all for reaching out to the public. "I believe, though, if you do a podcast, you should say something. You should say something new. You should say something inspiring. You should propose some new ideas. I haven't yet seen that."

Rather than the one-way communication the governor offers online, Buckley said, she'd prefer to have dialogue with the man himself when he wants to tell the Legislature what not to do.

"I said to Josh Hicks (the governor's chief of staff), 'I love the governor's podcasts, but if he'd picked up the phone we would have told him we weren't even thinking of that.' It's amazing what a phone call or an e-mail will do."

Contact reporter Molly Ball at mball @reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2919.