Mark McGwire's one-day plan to admit to steroid use and be interviewed by several prominent media outlets was coordinated over the past month by Ari Fleischer, a former White House press secretary who runs a crisis-communications company. McGwire began with a statement that was distributed widely to the news media, and that came across the Associated Press wire at 3 p.m. The A.P. followed quickly with a story that featured an interview with McGwire, who subsequently spoke to numerous other news media outlets ? including USA Today and The St. Louis Post-Dispatch; Tim Kurkjian and John Kruk of ESPN (both by telephone, not on the air); KTRS Radio in St. Louis; and The New York Times, before talking to Bob Costas live at 7 p.m. Eastern on MLB Network. ?I like the door-to-door strategy, in that he is telling his story in long form and in less confrontational settings,? said Kevin Sullivan, a former White House communications director who runs a strategic-communications company. ?He needed to rip the Band-Aid off before heading to spring training.? Sullivan added: ?I suspect McGwire will soon have some form of a press availability where he takes questions. He won?t be able to completely turn the page until he satisfies the pent-up demand and takes some questions.?