Live with the Attorney General?

by WSLS Staff
Published: March 29, 2006

Turn on the radio, sign onto the Internet or get out an iPod, the state attorney general has something to say.

In his first months in office, Attorney General Bob McDonnell has turned to new and established media to connect with constituents across Virginia.

He has held a virtual town hall meeting on a “live blog,” or online message board, and recently podcast an interview, or streamed downloadable audio for iPod and MP3 users.

His latest media blitz is a monthly live radio show kicking off next week in Lynchburg.

On the first Monday of the month, Lynchburg-area listeners will be able to tune in at 9 a.m. on WLNI (105.9 FM) to “Live with the Attorney General,” which will take listeners’ calls and discuss issues of the day.

“I’ve discovered in 70 days (of office) that a lot of our citizens and leaders don’t have a full handle of what the attorney general’s office does,” said McDonnell.

“We want to make sure we’re using every available medium to reach our voters and constituents.”

McDonnell, who compared the radio venture to the governor’s monthly show, said he hopes the program will educate people about identity theft protections, safe Internet practices and new sexual predator laws.

McDonnell will be holding monthly radio shows in five media markets across the commonwealth, including Richmond, Norfolk, Charlottesville and Harrisonburg.

Last month, McDonnell participated in a “live blog” on the conservative political blog Commonwealth Conservative (http://www.vaconservative.com). His office is calling the online forum the first of its kind for a Virginia statewide office holder.

The blog is run by Chad Dotson, a Republican commonwealth’s attorney in Wise County. He calls the site, “straight talk from the Internet’s first elected blogger.”

“The attorney general did not ‘cherry pick’ questions or purposefully avoid any topic,” Dotson wrote in his blog following the event. “With over 75 questions to choose from and only 60 minutes available, it came down to choosing questions that covered major issues, occasionally filling in with a ‘lighter’ question just so every answer wasn’t long and involved.”

The conversation, which is still posted on Dotson’s blog, ranged from personal inquiries about McDonnell’s daughter, who currently is stationed in Iraq, to general questions about the role of the attorney general’s office.

On Monday, McDonnell participated in a podcast with Bearing Drift, a conservative political blog based in Hampton Roads (http://www.bearingdrift.com).

McDonnell said people can expect to see more blogs, podcasts, radio shows and traditional meetings from him during the next four years.

“The advantage of the Internet age has given a number of new opportunities,” McDonnell said.

“We want to make sure we have the ability to communicate with people.”