Shrinking Violet or Publicity Hound: Which Hazel is It?

azel O'Leary's credibility edged down a notch late last year in the glare of publicity following revelations of the now infamous media-watch contract for which her department spent $46,500 of the taxpayers' money. Called to testify on the matter, O'Leary told Congress that "I prefer to stay out of the limelight," but circumstances suggested otherwise.

O'Leary has hardly been a shrinking violet. She's made efforts to cultivate the press, signing on, for example, to meet a group of reporters and editors over dinner at the home of American University professor James Thurber early in her tenure. For two years, she retained the services of private media consultant Audrey Hoffer at a rate of $284 a day. Her department and its large contractor workforce employ more than 500 public affairs workers, according to Rep. Joe Barton, D-Texas.

But it was the media-watch deal that raised eyebrows about O'Leary's fondness for favorable publicity. For six months ending last July, her department had Washington-based Carma International rate journalists, news organizations and their news sources as to the favorable or unfavorable qualities of their reporting on DOE programs. Carma's analysis was supposed to identify critics of the department so that its officials would know that "we needed to work on this person a little," as O'Leary spokeswoman Barbara Semedo told The Wall Street Journal, which broke the story on Nov. 9. Reporters were given numerical rankings, with those scoring below 50 deemed to be writing unfriendly articles about the agency.

Equally interesting was the firm's ranking of news sources. It turned out the critics most often cited in news stories were prominent Republicans such as Senate Majority Leader Robert Dole of Kansas, House Speaker Newt Gingrich of Georgia, and House Budget Committee Chairman John Kasich of Ohio. Could O'Leary really have believed that a little "work" on such critics would persuade them of the merits of policies about which there's legitimate disagreement and debate?

O'Leary took a beating in Congress. She "had the private eyes create an enemies list of unfavorable reporters who report on her extravagant travels and the like," says Steve Chabot, R-Ohio. Sixty-nine Members called for her resignation. Rep. Todd Tiahrt, R-Kan., sought not only O'Leary's removal, but "the elimination of the Department of Energy as a Cabinet-level agency."

In Nov. 17 testimony before Congress, O'Leary said there was no enemies list, and that the reports were intended as "a performance measure for the department, in general, and the Office of Public Affairs, in particular." She added: "I am embarrassed by what has happened."

The White House deemed the Carma contract inappropriate for a federal agency and demanded that DOE pay $46,500 to Treasury from O'Leary's office account to compensate for what the department spent on Carma's work. But DOE spokesman Phil Keif said the payment would be "absorbed as part of our plan to reduce staff and cut costs in her office anyway," meaning the White House's action against O'Leary amounted to nothing more than a public slap on the wrist.