Nearly a month into his inaugural term, Gov. Bob Ferguson has yet to do something nearly all his predecessors have considered part of the job: take questions from reporters at regular news conferences.
The 2025 legislative session is ticking by, but Ferguson has not held a single general media availability — the televised question-and-answer periods that past governors have usually held weekly at the Capitol — to discuss it.
Such briefings, typically aired live on TVW, the state’s public affairs network, had been regularly conducted by former three-term Gov. Jay Inslee and previous governors.
Ferguson has so far shown no interest in subjecting himself to such open-ended quizzing.
“I don’t know that a decision has been made to never do it,” Brionna Aho, a spokesperson for the governor said in an interview Thursday. In an email, she said Ferguson is planning a media availability on a specific subject — the state budget — during the final week of February.
Meanwhile, Ferguson also has been slow to give the media advance notice of his public appearances. And his office has sent out an edict requiring state agencies to provide advance notification of all media interviews and news releases.
David Ammons, who covered seven Washington governors as an Associated Press correspondent in Olympia, said Ferguson’s early stance is a marked departure for the state.
“That’s our tradition of open and accountable government,” Ammons said.
Almost every modern governor, from Dan Evans through Inslee, has regularly taken questions at the Capitol news conferences.
The lone exception, Ammons recalled, was Gov. Dixy Lee Ray, the combative Democrat who alienated her own party so much she lost in the primary when she sought reelection in 1980. Ray disdained news conferences, Ammons said, and rarely faced reporters.
Ferguson does hold news conferences at times when he has announcements to make, and occasionally sends out news releases on various issues. But Ammons said that’s not a substitute for the more freewheeling media availabilities, where reporters from across the state can ask questions on behalf of their readers or viewers.
“I think it’s disappointing and counterproductive to be that buttoned down,” Ammons said.
Ferguson declined to be interviewed for this article.
“The Governor has no comment on your story about media availabilities in his first 22 days as Governor,” Aho said in an email.
She added that Ferguson has conducted interviews with individual media outlets, including The Seattle Times, and cited two public events in January (one before he took office) where he fielded some reporters’ questions.
Former Gov. Christine Gregoire, who preceded Inslee as governor from 2005 to 2013, said she regularly met with the press in news conferences once or twice a week when the Legislature was in session.
Outside of the legislative session, Gregoire said she talked to the press on an as-needed basis and that her office always tried its best to honor deadlines.
“I think the media is critical now, more than ever in the history of the country, quite frankly, to ensure that the public is educated and aware and engaged,” Gregoire said. “So my respect for that concept hasn’t changed from the time I was in office.”
Former Gov. Gary Locke said he also held regular media availabilities, especially when the Legislature was in session.
“The press and the public wants to know the view of the governor’s office on various legislation that is being considered,” he said. “I found it very helpful.”
Locke noted, though, that there were a whole lot more journalists in the Capitol in those days, when outlets like The Seattle Times, The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Tacoma’s News Tribune and others had multiple reporters assigned to the beat.
While Ferguson has stayed comparatively aloof, legislative leaders from both parties have continued to hold weekly news conferences to talk about various legislative proposals.
House Speaker Laurie Jinkins, D-Tacoma, did not comment directly on Ferguson’s approach, but said she views taking questions as valuable — even when she’s taken heat from the media on issues such as lawmakers asserting a new “legislative privilege” to withhold public records.
“So I find the engagements useful, if not sometimes irritating,” she said.
Ferguson also has laid down strict expectations for state agencies’ dealings with the media.
In a memo last month, Aho directed all cabinet agencies to send all news releases to the governor’s office at least 48 hours before their release.
Further, the memo said agencies “must provide advance notice” to the governor’s office if agency staff plan to do interviews with major media outlets.
“This includes The Seattle Times, KOMO TV, KIRO TV, Fox 13 and KING TV, as well as national outlets,” the memo states. The governor’s office also wants notification of any agency social media posts that attract “significant interaction, reach or media attention,” but noted that they will not generally require any advance review of social media content.
The memo was first publicized on social media by Dale Whitaker, a Republican who ran for secretary of state last year and now hosts a YouTube politics show, who said he obtained it via a public records request.
Asked about the memo, Aho said the intent was “not to approve their communications or slow down their responses.” But she said it’s reasonable for the governor’s office to stay on top of news coming out of the agencies that report to him.
“Greater awareness of agencies’ public communication is essential to the Governor’s commitment to improve cohesion among state government. The state does not function best as dozens of small governments operating independent of one another,” Aho said in an emailed statement.
Ferguson’s office has also been slow in its early days when it comes to notifying the press about his upcoming public appearances.
Capitol press corps members reached out to Ferguson’s communications staff Monday asking for a schedule of public appearances during the week by the governor.
The governor’s office did not respond to that email. Instead the office emailed reporters late Wednesday with a calendar update after most of the events listed had already passed.
The events included a Tuesday meeting with Gregoire and Microsoft President Brad Smith “to discuss the potential of a public-private partnership using artificial intelligence for government efficiency.”
Aho said in an interview that the governor’s office intends to provide a forward-looking schedule of his significant upcoming events starting next week.
