Strategic Management of Media Relations: Communications Centralization and Spin in the Government of Canada

In: Canadian public policy: Analyse de politiques, Band 43, Heft 1, S. 36-49

Abstract

This article exposes the strategic planning of government personnel as they prepare to engage in media management and spin. It presents the findings of in-depth interviews with 17 Conservative-era insiders and more than 100 internal planning instruments obtained during the nascent period of Liberal governance under Justin Trudeau. Inward-facing media enquiry processing forms, media relations strategies, communications calendars, and rollout plans are discussed. Examples of a Message Event Proposal and a social media rollout template are presented. The author concludes that under Trudeau the Prime Minister's Office divested but understandably did not abandon central message control over ministers and departments.