Rise in political blogging results in more government press officers

Sir Gus O'Donnell, cabinet secretary and head of the Home Civil Service, today defended a rise in the number of press officers in government and said the increase was a response to the 1,600 political bloggers in the UK.

According to evidence presented to the committee the most recent edition of the White Book, which lists communications staff employed by the government, and government agencies (including public bodies such as the BBC), contained around 3,158 entries for the government and its non-departmental public bodies, compared with 2,942 entries in the 2004 edition.

There were approximately 373 press officers listed in central Whitehall departments in September 2008 - an increase from 330 in 2004.

O'Donnell said there were mounting demands on government communication officers to deal with both the increase in political blogs and the growing number of journalists.

"Be very careful what these numbers mean. [There are] 3,000 journalists in the BBC alone - that's just one institution," said O'Donnell in response.

You could easily turn the statistics round and ask 'why has it gone up so little', he said.

O'Donnell, who was the Prime Minister's spokesperson from 1990-94, gave evidence to the House of Lords Communications Committee alongside Michael Ellam, government director of communications and the Prime Minister's spokesman.

The committee is looking at whether the government has improved communications with the press, since the critical Phillis Report (Final Report of the Independent Review of Government Communications) was published four years ago.

Today's hearing followed up on evidence given on October 8 by national and regional journalists who are part of the political lobby.

Other key points of today's committee meeting are summarised below:

Internet is increasingly important
O'Donnell said the government had stepped up its use of new media and the internet for its communications.

"We are dealing with a world which is increasing [in] users of the internet. When we think about communications we have to think about multiple channels."

But, he said, the government must be careful in its use of internet and not neglect those who are not comfortable with using it.

Ellam said the Prime Minister had given 30 answers to public questions via YouTube in the last two years.

Policy makers and communicators not all that different
Ellam said he does 'not have much faith in any distinction which takes communicators as a separate role'.

"Those lines are relatively abitrary," he said, giving his own role as an example.

Political lobby is open to all
O'Donnell and Ellam said the lobby was open to all, in response to complaints that the regional press were neglected in government communications and felt like 'second class citizens'.

There are nine Parliamentary briefings a week, Ellam said. Any journalist can come and the vast majority of regional press are members of the lobby, he said.

BBC's Robert Peston not favoured
Responding to discussion in the last hearing that BBC business editor Robert Peston was receiving more information than other journalists, Michael Ellam said the specific report which sparked controversy had relied on evidence from the bankers and not government ministers.

"I don't accept that in this case this story had come from the government," he said.

"In a world where the government is speaking to the press [on crucial issues] it is inevitable some of it will come into the public domain."

More on than off the record
While both speakers referred to the long history of journalists speaking to politicians 'off the record,' Ellam argued the balance has shifted.

"You could certainly mount a credible argument that the [amount of] 'off' to 'on the record' has shifted," he said.

For example, politicians are now likely to give three separate interviews in one day for 24-hour news channels, as the news updates.

"That certainly wouldn't have been the case 10 years ago," he said.

He also cited the Prime Ministers' 46 press conferences in the last year - almost one a week - although he included international appearances in this number.

The full debate can be watched at Parliament TV.

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