Public Communication & Media: Key Components of Open Government

Public communication is defined as any communication activity or initiative led by public institutions for the public good, as distinct from political communication, which is linked to political debates or elections.

Our analysis shows that while governments acknowledge public communication as a key component of the open government principles of transparency, integrity, accountability and stakeholder participation, there is a wide implementation gap:

Less than 10% of governments list promoting transparency or stakeholder participation as a key communications objective
Only 2% of Open Government Partnership Action Plans make commitments relating to media and communication

‌As a key pillar of the OECD Recommendation of the Council on Open Government, public communication provides a strategic pathway to creating successful open government strategies and initiatives, yet it is still widely under-used. Information on how governments are making use of public communication, and the impact it has is lacking, making it difficult to compare strategies, identify trends, or build communication standards.

The OECD International Report on Public Communication

Against this backdrop, the OECD is developing the first evidence-based international report on public communication covering over 60 countries. The report is financially and substantially supported principally by the United Kingdom’s Government Communication Service International (GCSI), with additional support from the Korean Development Institute (KDI) and the German Foreign Office (in the context of an ongoing project on citizen’s voice in Middle East and North African countries).

The report will further the analysis and understanding of how public communication and media efforts can support transparency, integrity, accountability and participation.

The objectives of the report are to:

Bridge the evidence gap on the contribution of public communication to democracy, security and inclusive growth
Reinforce awareness and use of communication as a lever for improved policymaking and services, and open government promotion
Strengthen governments' resilience to disinformation
Disseminate good practices, success stories and lessons learned

The report builds on the existing work of the OECD Public Communication and Media Reviews, which identify success factors, bottlenecks and actionable recommendations to help governments use public communication more strategically.

Audience

The target audience of the final report includes public officials in charge of steering and implementing open government strategies and initiatives, as well as communication officers in public institutions and agencies who wish to find out more about the strategic role of public service communications in explaining, encouraging, and building support for open government practices.

Methodolgy & analytical framework

The report will be based on the analytical framework, desk research, as well as surveys administered to OECD member and non-member countries. A first survey will target public officials in charge of communication in centres of government, and a second survey will target public officials in charge of communication within ministries of health.

How can I get involved?

If you are a communications official working within central government or health ministry, and would like to contribute to this groundbreaking report, please contact us at coms4og@oecd.org.