These U.S. presidents were talking about how a democracy works. Their words are even more true today in this 21st Information Century.

From the American Revolution in the 18th century came the idea that the government should be accountable to the people and that the individuals who work in the government are public servants. But serving the people is a two-way venture. In a democracy, serving the people, truthfully informing the people, is both the job of the press and the job of government officials. And in democracies where a free press and freedom of information are considered to be underpinnings, a transparent and functional government communication operation is vital. An open and transparent government is an essential ingredient for a free press.

Role of the Media and Citizens

In a democracy, citizens need factual and credible information in order to make informed choices and independent judgments. Free and independent media, including traditional, digital and social media, are essential in providing that information. Independent media serve as a watchdog over government, holding public officials to the highest standards and reporting whether or not the government is maintaining the public trust. And today, social media such as Facebook give citizens new platforms for sharing information and expressing their opinions both to each other and directly to their governments. Through blogs, videos on YouTube, messages on Facebook and LinkedIn, tweets and other social media venues, government officials, journalists and citizens are directly communicating. Through social media, citizens also can monitor the accuracy not only of information from their governments, but information published by traditional print and broadcast media. Today citizens also have unprecedented opportunities to assist traditional media by providing reporters with photos, videos of events and news tips and offering solutions to governments on problems. Never before have reporters, citizens and governments had more direct contact than today in environments where there is true Internet and digital freedom, press freedom, freedom of speech and freedom of assembly, including online.

Government officials are blogging, responding to citizens’ comments, tweeting about emergency information, and texting about new plans. When it works well and there is no tampering with or censuring of online and social media, government transparency and accountability are enhanced, and governments, citizens and media can have an open dialogue.

In the digital age, the old rules still apply. The rules of truthfulness, accuracy, openness and verification stand as true today for democratic governments using digital and social media as they did for those working only with traditional media.

“Public officials should obey the same rules no matter with whom they are dealing,” said Anita Dunn, former White House communications director for President Barack Obama. What has changed is the speed and pace of news — 24 hours/seven days a week. “Today we are dealing in a world that has no deadline,” she said, “because we all are on deadline all the time.”

Yet, the need to constantly put out news can overtake the facts at hand. This can make reporters’ role crucial.

“Media has an even more important role in helping people sort things out,” Dunn said.

Reporters can provide context and coherence to the many story lines through analyses and background stories. They can cut through the clutter of bits and pieces of news to focus on what is important. They can be the trusted sources of information regardless of the platform used — print, broadcast, online or mobile devices.

“New media is seen as new and transcendent, but it is just another set of tools,” said the head of a U.S. government communications office. “Just like the telegraph was a new tool, social media is too. Social media helps you do more and do it quicker, but the thinking and the strategy don’t change.” What is different are the many means of communication.

“The value to us is being able to reach so many people at one time for zero cost,” Philadelphia’s former assistant managing director told the Fels Institute of Government at the University of Pennsylvania. The city was doing transformational work, he said, and “we need to get this out to the people. We need to tell people what’s going on. And certainly no one here, or in the major media, is going to have the time to reach out and identify a constituency and push out this information.” With social media, two-way communication is enhanced.

What a Press Office Is and Is Not

At the core of this transfer of information between the government, media and citizens is the government communications or press office.

“A government public affairs office is central to the whole system of communicating with the people,” said a former White House press assistant. “The government press operation is the daily conduit through which the press gets information on the workings of the government.”

Explaining how government programs and policies have an impact on citizens is the major role of a government press office. This public information effort conveys government officials’ concerns and plans to the public, and it helps the public understand how various issues could affect their lives.

“Governments have so much information that they need an effective way to distribute it to their citizens, and that’s where the government spokesperson comes in,” said Mike McCurry, former press secretary to President Bill Clinton. “The spokesperson is like a reporter working inside government collecting information for the public. It is the spokesperson’s role to get as much information to the public as possible.”

Government press officials, then, have several roles. In dealing with the public and the media, they are advocates for the government’s position, explaining the merits of official action. They correct erroneous information, try to improve the interpretation and understanding of existing information, and communicate directly with the media and through social media and their web sites to the public on their programs and plans. They also are advocates for the media within the government, relaying reporters’ needs, such as the desire to do a news story on a topic that government officials may or may not be ready to discuss, and relaying public concerns, such as through items picked up on social media. In a sense, spokespersons often do reporters’ work, gathering information for the press and translating what government experts have to say for the media.

“The press secretary’s job is to present the president’s positions and thoughts in a manner that helps him advance his agenda, while also helping the press learn what the government is doing,” said Ari Fleisher, first White House press secretary to President George W. Bush. “It’s a balancing act that requires careful judgment in service to two masters.”

The spokesperson’s role is both assertive — trying to emphasize certain aspects of the news — and reactive – responding to reporters’ questions. For example, in the United States, every day the White House releases scores of press releases, statements, announcements, and other updates on videos, blogs, Facebook, Twitter and SMS to announce new programs, appointments and activities of the president. At the same time, reporters covering the White House contact the press office with questions for stories that may or may not be those that officials want covered. Into this mix are citizen bloggers — called today’s citizen journalists — who can check errors, update information and post videos that journalists pick up and verify. Those that are legitimate become part of the major news flow.

“We definitely are the link between our governments and the people, and the translators of information from government to the people, but we also have to know what is coming our way, hear what is on the street, and translate it back to our government officials,” said a former president of the National Association of Government Communicators (NAGC).

But a government press officer is not a magician who can transform a policy or program that is not working into something that appears to be functioning well. Public relations cannot substitute for effective programs or worthwhile ideas. A press secretary cannot create an image of honesty if government officials are not honest. He or she cannot portray a government that recognizes and responds to problems if problems persist and little is done about them. A press office cannot convince the press to write about the openness of a government that is not open or the management skills of government officials who do not manage. Nor can a press office convey a government’s objectives if the government leaders it serves are not clear about those objectives. No matter how good a government communications staff, if a policy or its implementers are weak, absent, unethical or unprofessional, they cannot make it seem otherwise.

Journalists and Government Press Officials

Government press officials should not expect to be friends or foes of journalists. Journalists should be neutral observers of government and of its actions and plans. In a democracy, press and government cannot be partners. They are natural adversaries with different functions. Each should respect the role of the other and yet recognize that a natural tension exists between the two. On the one hand, at times it’s a relationship in which officials try to tell their version of events or avoid publicity altogether, and the press looks for mistakes and pushes to get information released. On the other hand, the relationship is reciprocal. Journalists need credible and reliable government press officers to help them understand the government’s actions and plans. Government press officers need journalists to get information on the government’s actions and plans to the public. And today these roles are even more important as citizens are becoming citizen journalists helping reporters get information, verifying data put out by governments and checking what is reported.

Some government press officers expect that a journalist who is a social friend will not write a story that is negative, but a professional journalist does not let a friendship with an official stand in the way of a story. Being a journalist is a 24-hour-a-day job, and a good journalist is never off duty.

“Spokespersons must have cordial but professional relations with reporters,” said former Clinton White House spokesman Mike McCurry. “They, reporters, have jobs to do, and you, spokespersons, have jobs to do. You can be friends with a reporter, but you must remember reporters are always on the job and so are you.”

“Spokespersons can have a friendly professional relationship with a journalist, but a personal relationship can be difficult,” the former NAGC president said. “There will come a time when a reporter needs to ask probing questions or write or air a story that you may not want. You can’t just rely on friendship. Something will suffer — either the professional relationship or the friendship. But you need to have the professional relationship. You need to be able to call up a reporter and say, ‘You really blew that story.’”

The Duty of Dealing with the Press

In addition, government press officers should not stand in the way of a story. As public servants, government press officers don’t have the right to decide what is good for people to know and what is not good. Their job is to supply news material to all journalists, even those perceived as less than friendly.

Some government officials have expressed surprise when during press conferences journalists ask questions that are not on the subject of the press briefing. This is normal. Journalists may have little access to government officials, and they ask questions, whether on the stated topic or not, when they get access. It is part of having a free press.

“Press offices could be considered not only as a government subsidy or a government efficiency but as an entitlement that flows from the nature of a free society and the relationship of the state to the citizen,” wrote presidential scholar Stephen Hess in The Government/Press Connection: Press Officers and Their Offices. “What more natural function of government is there in a democracy than for it to make available information about how it is governing?”