The spokesperson has to have a similar role with the staff — senior staff as well as line staff — from whom they often need to get information quickly. One complaint heard frequently worldwide is that government staff do not respond to queries for information from press officers trying to help reporters with their stories. Unless the importance of the press role is emphasized by the top managers to their staffs, the significance of the role will never be recognized.

“It is the last job a civil servant would want,” complained a government official in a country with poor government communications. “Here the spokesperson has no access, no prestige. He is not in on meetings; he is not aware of what is happening. He has no resources and no staff. And he gets in trouble with his boss when he talks to the press. Overall it is a lose/lose situation. He doesn’t speak unless he is forced to, and ultimately the spokesperson is not effective.”

In contrast, in a well-functioning system, the press officer must have a role both in communicating and in decision-making so that those formulating policy will understand the public relations ramifications of proposed actions. If, as spokesperson, the press officer has not participated in developing policy, he or she will have difficulty understanding the context of the policies and explaining it to the media.

“It is very important to have the communicator as part of the strategy team,” said a former president of the National Association of Government Communicators (NAGC). “If a government official is planning on taking an action, you need to know how it will be perceived. It is better to have the communicator at the table, engaged in the discussion in the early formative stages, than to have to play catch-up or be blindsided by negative public reaction because the communicator, the person with the sense of public sentiments, wasn’t there.”

Long-Term and Short-Term Vision

According to presidential scholar Stephen Hess, on the federal level in the United States, responding to press questions takes up 50 percent of a typical press spokesperson’s time, keeping informed and working on agency business 25 percent, and initiating materials and events 25 percent.

Overall the job is twofold: Doing long-range planning and operating short-term — that is, carrying out the plan on a daily basis. These involve two sets of activities: being proactive — planning, persuading, executing, carrying out the daily plan — and being reactive — responding to queries and crises. Without a well-organized operation in which both roles occur, you can lose control of long-term goals and be buffeted by day-to-day events and crises.

In the White House, planning and executing are split between two offices: the office of White House communications director and the office of press secretary. The two work very closely together, with the former being responsible for long-range planning and the latter for executing the daily plan and responding to queries from the media.

Elsewhere in most of the U.S. government, the two roles — planning and executing — typically are located in one office. Often the communications director, or public affairs director, handles the long-range planning, and a press secretary reports to him or her. In some cases this can be reversed. But whether two offices with many staff members or one office with one person doing both jobs, the key is that there be a long-range planning, short-term execution and interaction with the media — both traditional and online. Without this, communication becomes reactive rather than proactive — putting out a government’s message on its plans and programs.

“The most important ingredient for good communications has not changed: responsive, well-reasoned messages that don’t sound like canned talking points,” said Dana Perino, White House press secretary to President George W. Bush. “So in the communications operations, it’s important to have both types of people — those thinking about what to say, and those getting the word out in all of the different platforms.”

One structural element that initially vexed communication offices was where to put “new” media, particularly social media. As one communications official at the Pentagon explained, “For a while new/social media was treated as a separate capability and located in the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Community Relations/Public Liaison on the theory that social media represented the 21st century ‘community.’ That arrangement ended up a bust as it effectively ‘ghettoized’ this function to where it was irrelevant.”

“Now new media is part of the main press office, where the expectation is that the normal press officers will do Twitter/Facebook and other updates as well as respond to things in the blogosphere.”

Segregating traditional and “new” media can result in conflicting messages, which is why they should be integrated in a communications or press office.

The communication and press officers’ jobs can be broken down into many tasks:

• Serving as the government spokesperson who conducts regular or special briefings.

• Managing the day-to-day activities of the press office.

• Assisting in developing government policies and in developing strategies to convey them to the media and the public.

• Planning and managing media campaigns to put out a consistent long-term message.

• Handling press inquiries.

• Setting up interviews and briefings for the press with government officials.

• Overseeing the content on Web pages, blogging, and using social, mobile and other digital technologies.

• Advising government officials and staff on press relations and potential media reaction to proposed policies.

• Overseeing speech writing, or at least reviewing speeches and their messages.

• Staging events such as news conferences.

• Preparing news releases, fact sheets and other materials.

• Serving as a liaison with or supervisor of other government press offices.

• Arranging transportation and hotel accommodations for the traveling press.

• Issuing press credentials.

• Coordinating messages with the introduction of legislative initiatives.

• Supervising agency internal communications as well as its external ones.

• Monitoring and evaluating communications effects and planning how to do better next time.

Establishing the Press Officer’s Job

In establishing the position of spokesperson, the first responsibility lies with the government official. The top government official must determine with the spokesperson how the press office will be organized and what its responsibilities will be. The official must make important decisions about the structure of the press office. For instance:

• Whether long-range communications and daily press operations will be in the same office or in two offices that work closely together.

• To whom the press secretary will report. It often is to the chief of staff but with a direct line to the top official.

• What will be the spokesperson’s relationship with the rest of the official’s staff?

• What will be the relationship between the press department and other ministries and departments? This is especially critical if the official is head of the government or of a ministry with subordinate agencies or regional offices.

The government official also has to make decisions about how he or she will use the press office.

• How available does the government official wish to be to the press?

• How often will he or she be interviewed and do press conferences?

• Will he or she blog, tweet or post messages on Facebook? It is always best when these are part of the overall communications plan and worked in unison with the press office.

• May the spokesperson speak on his/her behalf? Or will only the government official do press briefings?

In the best of circumstances, the government official is readily accessible to the press, does frequent press conferences, blogs, uses social media — working through his or her press office — and also has a spokesperson who can speak on his or her behalf. At the White House, for example, the press secretary holds a daily televised press briefing but steps aside when the president appears to address the press in person.

Relations with Other Government Staff

The authority the press officer has with the rest of the government official’s top staff and entire bureaucracy is also important. Among the issues are:

• Is the press officer the initial point of contact with the press, and does he or she have authority over the staff’s relationships with the press? It is best when this happens.

• Are other offices authorized to answer questions, other than routine queries, without first consulting with the press office? For example, if a reporter calls the scheduling office with a simple scheduling question, such as the time of an event, should it be routed to the press office or can the scheduler answer it?

• Who needs to review the press office’s news releases, speeches and policy statements?

• Does the press office manage the Web site, social media content such as Facebook page and tweets? It is crucial that information on the government agency’s web site and social media be in synch with the information disseminated to more traditional media.

• How will digital media be used to update and respond to journalists?

• Must other top-level staff, such as the chief of staff, have sign-off authority on public statements?

• Will the spokesperson have access to the top-level staff in the office and be part of the senior governing team? Again, this is important.

Interaction with the Press

In many operations, when a reporter has a question the first point of contact is the press secretary. If he or she cannot answer the question immediately, the press secretary typically turns to a government specialist who has the information. Either the specialist talks directly to the reporter or the press secretary, sufficiently briefed by the specialist, does. Talking to the expert is often the most satisfactory as journalists like to speak to those with the most knowledge of a topic, particularly on complicated issues.

Often the press secretary coordinates staff interaction with the media. At a minimum, a press secretary needs to know as soon as possible whether or not a staff member has had any interaction with the press and what topics were discussed. If there are no clear procedures, an administration could respond with contradictory information, with the result that the public is left confused and ultimately mistrusting of information put out by government officials.

Organizations typically have procedures on working with the media — not to impede information getting out but to ensure that the correct information gets out quickly to reporters and the public. For example, one department requests that all press inquires go through the press office. The staff responds immediately to reporters’ requests and either quickly answers questions themselves or more typically switches them to a specialist. The goal is to respond rapidly and accurately to queries with the fullest factual information available. If more time is required, the reporter is told what is involved in getting the information and how long it will take. This procedure holds true whether it is a newspaper or television reporter requesting information or a blogger not affiliated with a news organization.

The procedures shouldn’t be cumbersome, as they were in the finance ministry of a new democracy. When a reporter emailed or called requesting information, the press secretary had to take the question to the minister, who decided which staff person would answer. The press secretary then took the question to the designated staffer, who wrote a response. This then went back to the minister for approval or editing. The press secretary then emailed a response to the reporter. The process could take weeks, and if the journalist needed additional information this cumbersome system started all over again.

In today’s Information Age, a reporter on deadline, who cannot wait weeks, days or hours for an answer, will go elsewhere for information, which might not be complete — or even correct. Journalists cannot report factually if government officials don’t respond and assist them. One journalist in a new democracy admitted that his biggest challenge to producing quality and balanced reporting was the unwillingness of authorities to provide information. Despite numerous attempts to reach authorities to give their perspectives on an important issue or to verify information, the reporter usually got no response. The usual answer he received was, “I’m busy,” or “I am not allowed to talk about this.” This, he admitted, often leads to limited information or misinformation as the story must be done with or without the government’s help.

Using social media can help. “When it comes to government, social media has brought about as much transparency as possible all the time,” said Anita Dunn, former communications director to President Barack Obama. “There are few secrets that will be kept. And with social media the expectation of transparency is growing around the globe.”

Relationships with Other Press Offices

Among the issues to consider when setting up a central press office are:

• How can information/communication be coordinated between the main press office and those in outlying areas within that ministry and across government offices? Regular meetings, conference calls and email exchanges help.

• How will information move among them? Will they have daily, weekly or monthly conference calls or meetings? Will schedules of upcoming events be regularly shared?

• Should the chief government press secretary have authority that extends to Cabinet-level agencies?

• Who will hire the spokespersons in the ministries and agencies? Will it be the top government press official or each agency head or will it be done by consensus between the two?

• What news will the top government official announce on behalf of or with Cabinet offices?

• How do the subordinate offices fit into the overall media strategy?

• What materials, such as press releases, interviews and blog posts, and acceptance of speaking engagements, need to be cleared by the central government press office before being released? How will a review be done?

• What upcoming events or situations might impede the message a government official wants to send out? What procedures have been set up to get information from the other agencies and ministries? Sharing schedules among departments, having regular meetings to discuss event calendars, and sharing messages on upcoming events can help.

A Credible Spokesperson

What characteristics make a good press secretary?

According to former Clinton White House spokesperson Mike McCurry, press secretaries need “a sense of humor, enormous patience, an ability to speak and write quickly, and an uncompromising attitude about the truth.

“Credibility,” he said, “is the single most important asset of the spokesperson.”

In The Government/Press Connection, Stephen Hess wrote that press officers say they need stamina, curiosity, a helpful nature, good memory, civility, coolness under pressure, an understanding of human psychology, and an ability to predict and handle logistical details. It also helps if a spokesperson learns facts quickly. He or she should be able to handle the unpredictable, manage many tasks simultaneously, deal with constant interruptions, and be quick to react. The spokesperson should be evenhanded with reporters — that is, not play favorites. Above all, the spokesperson should be a person of high personal ethics and integrity.

A spokesperson must maintain his or her credibility and so should the boss. To be effective, a press secretary must be believed by the press, and he or she won’t be if answers prove to be false or misleading.

“The government media effort doesn’t work when the spokesperson is not trusted by the media or is frozen out from the information flow within the government,” admitted a former press secretary.

Helping Reporters

Being a reporter is demanding. It often requires long hours, the ability to juggle numerous daily assignments on numerous topics sometimes with little time to do thorough research. Government communications need to understand the difficulties of the job, the deadlines and demands.

“Remember that the physical demands of reporting and the long hours make for cranky reporters,” said Mike McCurry. “You should try to take care of reporters’ basic needs. Make sure they have access to food and drink, that their physical working environment is conducive to compiling and filing their stories, and that the employees of the government press office are helpful.”

Even though many journalists report on an hourly, even minute-to-minute basis, they need time to research, interview and write stories. They also like to know about news events in advance so they can approve a story idea with their editors, schedule a photographer, and do additional research. The White House press office gives reporters not only daily schedules but also week-in-advance schedules so they can see what public events are coming up.

When there is a breaking news story, such as a sudden political controversy or crisis, a reporter may have to cover the story with little background, making the task of writing a well-informed article harder. Consequently, the more information that can be made available to reporters the better. It also is important to learn the lead times and needs for each type of media. They can vary a good deal.

The spokesperson’s job requires balancing many relationships — with the government official he or she represents, with the rest of the top-level government staff, with the press, with the permanent bureaucracy, and with the public through the Web and social media. The spokesperson must also be visible for the boss when that would be helpful and in the background when the boss has the press spotlight.

“The most important thing to remember,” said former Clinton administration spokesperson Dee Dee Myers, “is that even though the job can be aggravating, difficult and frustrating at times, it is incumbent on government press offices to help the press get the story right. … The system works best when it provides a great degree of openness for the press. Openness is not something to be afraid of.”