Fla. Gov.Scott's team, media in "Twitter war" - Florida Wires - MiamiHerald.com
New technologies create new tactics...
It used to be that if the governor's office wasn't happy with what a reporter had written, someone would pick up the phone or email to protest. That's too old fashioned for Gov. Rick Scott's team.
Scott's communications director, Brian Burgess, is taking to Twitter to contradict and argue with reporters and criticize news outlets. Shots have often been fired back in what some are describing as an online fight between capitol reporters and the governor's main messenger - sometimes to the amusement of those following the exchanges.
"What used to be a flurry of phone calls back and forth and maybe barging into people's offices has become a Twitter war and, often times, it's silly," said Brian Crowley, a former Palm Beach Post political reporter who now runs the Crowley Political Report blog. "It's not a two-way conversation. It's a mob conversation."
When St. Petersburg Times reporter Michael Bender tweeted that Scott planned to announce a proposed $1 billion property tax cut and said it was 30 percent less than a $1.4 billion cut he promised during his campaign, Burgess tweeted, "Myth." Bender took the bait and an exchange ensued.
"Going by your press release," tweeted Bender.
"The phrase 'over $1 billion' doesn't give you poetic license to infer your own number," Burgess retorted.
"It's your press release. 30% seems a bit much to round, no?" Bender tweeted.
When Scott announced his budget the next week, Burgess singled out Bender in another tweet: "$1.4 billion over two years.
