We reporters like to think we have a thick skin. Being yelled at by politicians or their supporters, sometimes anonymously on social media, is par for the course in this business. Cat-and-mouse games between administrations, departments and lawmakers is common. But I’m kind of at my wit’s end.

The attitude by Gov. Jim Justice and the communications officials in his administration and his departments toward the press, especially regarding issues within the governor’s control, has reached nearly a point of no return and I’m not sure what they can do to repair things beyond putting new communications officials in charge. But with less than five months left in Justice’s final term as governor, I don’t expect any changes to occur.

No doubt Justice is getting frustrated by the near-daily coverage of his companies’ many business issues, especially with the Greenbrier Resort. You wouldn’t know it from my coverage and that of my colleagues at other news outlets, but we’re frustrated, too. I can think of other things that need coverage in this state. I don’t want to cover this day in and day out.

However, the problem is one I’ve brought up many times before, including directly to Justice. Except for eight random businesses, the remaining 100 or so businesses in Justice’s empire are not in blind trusts, which would truly shield Justice from those businesses and their issues. Justice’s adult children, Jay and Jill, might be running day-to-day operations, but it’s clear Justice is very much involved in major corporate decisions.

Justice’s massive debts, the many court cases filed to collect by companies and even the federal government, the failure to remit taxes to state and local governments, his own son and company officials being held in civil contempt, all these things are not fake news. We did not invent them. And Justice can scream “it’s politics” to the high heavens, but the one thing they can’t deny is they owe the money. And while it’s unclear what the grand total is, we know for sure it’s more than $1 billion.

And look, I get some people saying that the public knows all of this. These issues were raised in 2016 and 2020 by Republicans and Democrats. You, the public, continue to vote for Justice. Perhaps you see him as a folksy version of former President Donald Trump complete with a dog so ugly it is lovable. My job is not to tell you to vote or not to vote for Justice. My only job is to provide you with as much information to make an informed decision. And when Justice talks about his business acumen, then his business woes are fair game.

I do not think Justice is a bad man. I can point to some of the good he has done the last nearly eight years, and have in numerous articles. I take no joy in writing these things. Justice accused us in the media of wanting his businesses to fail, including the Greenbrier. I find that accusation offensive.

He (or his communications director) banned WV MetroNews reporter Brad McElhinny from his virtual briefings for asking questions about Justice businesses, calling McElhinny “vile.” Any who know Brad know him to be friendly, respectful and a great reporter. The Justice administration even had Greenbrier Resort lobbyist Larry Puccio call McElhinny’s boss, Hoppy Kercheval, to tell them to knock off the coverage.

Really?

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These issues of disrespect for the state media are not just in the governor’s office. It has now trickled down to Justice’s departments and agencies. I, along with reporters from West Virginia Public Broadcasting and West Virginia Watch, have tried to get officials with the Department of Human Services to talk to us about a now-postponed child care subsidy cliff.

In short, DoHS officials said to lawmakers in April they needed an additional $23 million by the end of August to keep funding the childcare subsidy for the remainder of the current fiscal year based on the new federal enrollment formula. There has been coverage of this issue periodically since then, but naturally coverage picked up in August with the deadline nearing.

But DoHS remained silent, creating concern among childcare providers who simply wanted some sort of public comment that the issue was being addressed. Some childcare centers have closed since April, unable to wait for those assurances. There has been debate as to whether DoHS has the freedom to move money out of a $183 million fund set up by the Legislature in May to cover that $23 million cost. Was a special session needed?

WVPB Reporter Emily Rice and I even tried to ask DoHS Secretary Cynthia Persily in person at a recent event about this issue, only to be told to talk to her communications director, who then told us to email our questions. My verbal response was “really,” but I sent an email that same day. No response. Instead, DoHS chose to ignore us, plant stories in other outlets that the funding had been found, and then waited a week to put out a press release saying they found the funding and that reports saying otherwise were “not accurate.”

I don’t appreciate being gaslighted. I would have loved to report that DoHS moved money around to cover part of the needed child care subsidy funding through December. That is something to be celebrated. Not only did they not provide that information to myself or many of my colleagues, they did not provide that information to providers or lawmakers. DoHS has, in effect, made everyone mad not at the media, but at themselves.

I’m a former government communications professional. I simply don’t understand treating reporters this way. If that is coming internally from DoHS leaders or under direction from the governor’s office, it needs to stop. Now.

(Adams is the state government reporter for Ogden Newspapers. He can be contacted at sadams@newsandsentinel.com)