How Trudeau can mend ties between press, PMO
In a rare moment of unanimity, everyone in Ottawa seems to be agreed, post-election, that federal politics has been suffering from a “tone” problem.
While that may be the case, it would be a mistake to think that political culture on Parliament Hill simply needs an injection of “nice.”
This is particularly true when it comes to relations between the government and the media, which were often rocky, to say the least, during the Conservatives’ years in power.
Just to be clear, reporters in the parliamentary press gallery have not been asking for politicians to be nicer to them. Far too often, this is how the government and its supporters mocked the media’s complaints over the past 10 years.
The problems went a bit deeper than that. The clashes between the past Conservative government and the media were about issues of access, transparency and, frequently, respect.
If relations are going to be more civil in this new regime, there are some constructive ways to put things back on track. Here are three modest suggestions: Let the ministers speak: Already some steps have been taken in this direction, with the new cabinet talking to reporters after their first meeting on Wednesday. But real progress will be made when ministers don’t seek permission from the Prime Minister’s Office to talk to reporters, either in front of the cameras, in person or on the phone. All the talk of a talented cabinet comes to nothing if these fullfledged grown-ups need the blessing of PMO staffers (the famous “kids in short pants”) to do their own media relations.
Some of the new Liberal cabinet members have been around long enough to remember a time when they answered their own media calls or didn’t need to seek clearance from the PMO to do the elementary parts of their jobs. It’s the rookies — more than half the cabinet, incidentally — who will have to watch that they don’t fall into a pattern of treating the PMO as Big Brother.
Adaily media briefing: Canadian politics is in a constant state of ambivalence about borrowing practices from the U.S. While campaign strategists of all stripes have been consulting Americans for decades on how to fight elections, there’s a reluctance to be seen as “too American” when it comes to governing.
There is one practice at the White House, however, that could and should be imported to Ottawa — the daily media briefing.
Even if Justin Trudeau does succeed in his promise to loosen the tight control exercised at the “centre,” the Prime Minister’s Office still has to oversee and co-ordinate activity across government. As I read the accounts of former PMO communications officials, much of their days were taken up with responding to simple requests from the media along the lines of “What’s going on today?”
Responding to these requests, one by one, is time-consuming and opens the door to picking favourites for timely replies. Worse, reporters can be punished for negative stories with silence from the PMO.
Most of those problems could be eliminated, it seems, with one daily briefing to reporters from a PMO official, similar to the White House daily updates to the media. They could be kept to a quick half-hour in the morning or at midday, in which the PMO could rattle off its top priorities for the day and reporters could get their own questions on the table. Sure, things may get tense when those agendas are at odds, but at least that tension gets a chance to be aired daily.
As a bonus, a daily press briefing would ensure equality of access right across the board, to all media, regardless of size or format. And isn’t equality of opportunity a cherished Liberal value?
Deal with reporters, not their bosses: A particularly toxic tactic in media relations is to go over the heads of reporters with coverage complaints and straight to their bosses or head offices (usually in Toronto).
From the journalists’ point of view, this is immediately interpreted as a threat, often to their livelihood or careers. It also assumes, wrongly in most cases, that media outlets operate as strict hierarchies, in which bosses in Toronto or Ottawa are micromanaging the work of daily reporters.
The call-the-boss strategy should be saved for extreme cases, and even then, used advisedly. Often, media bosses are pleased to hear that their reporters have afflicted the comfortable, as the old saying goes. These media management measures may sound simple, but they require a bit of courage to implement, especially if they hit a few bumps in early days. But they would be a sign that political culture is getting fixed in Ottawa, beyond slapping a nice smile on everything. sdelacourt@bell.net