Government communications and the crisis of trust: from political spin to post-truth
Intro -- Acknowledgements -- Contents -- List of Tables -- Chapter 1: Prologue: The Crisis of Trust -- The Road to the 2003 Iraq War: Blair's Dilemma -- 'Let's Get Brexit Done': Johnson's Campaign of 2019 -- Conclusion -- References -- Part I: The Post-War Government Information Service -- Chapter 2: How Did We Get Here? -- Whitehall: Resilient Yet Fragile -- A 'narrative of disdain' for Government Communicators -- Conclusion -- References -- Chapter 3: Thatcher and Major: Covert Changes to the Rules of the Game -- "It will be important to sell, and sell hard" -- Major Struggles to Contain the Narrative -- Conclusion -- References -- Part II: The Age of Political Spin -- Chapter 4: From Blair to Cameron and Beyond -- The Narrative of Political Spin -- Obscuring the Exercise of Political Power -- 1997: Pushing Out the 'dead meat' -- 2010: "We don't think you're very good at your job" -- Conclusion -- References -- Chapter 5: The Rise of Politically-Appointed Media Strategists After 1997 -- What Changed? -- How Journalists Saw the New "terms of trade" -- Confusion Over Who Represents the Official Line -- Conclusion -- References -- Chapter 6: How Bureaucrats and Parliamentarians Pushed Back Against Spin -- Propriety and Ethics in Government Communications -- Resistance from Within -- Media Activism by Ministers -- Conclusion -- References -- Part III: Mediatization, Impartiality and Public Trust -- Chapter 7: The Surrender to the 24/7 News Cycle -- The Interface Between Media, Politics and Bureaucracy -- Politicians' Pact with the Media -- Conclusion -- References -- Chapter 8: Impartiality and Accountability as Ingredients of Trust -- Civil Servants as Defenders of Public Values -- Policing the 'line' Between Impartial and Partisan Communication -- Impartiality as a Contested Value -- Conclusion -- References.