Regeringskansliet och medierna. Den politiska exekutivens resurser och strategier for att hantera och styra massmedier

In: Statsvetenskaplig tidskrift, Band 110, Heft 4, S. 335-349

Abstract

The professional communicators inside the Swedish Government Office are today 140 (compared to a single one 40 years ago & just twenty 15 years ago), giving support to the idea that the media now has a major impact on everyday business inside the Government. This article shows that this partly true, as the media mainly have an effect on the politicians, the partisan ministerial staff & the communicators. But the relationship between the Government Offices & the media could also be turned around. The Government have resources for external communication no lesser than an international news agency's, & does oil a daily basis deliver an impressive amount of press releases & conferences -- and information leaks -- that the media has to handle. This article examines & analyses how the Swedish Government Offices, through new posts, units & strategies, has institutionalized & centralized its' media contacts during the last 40 years, as well as the reasons & the internal consequences of this development. Adapted from the source document.