{"id":4501,"date":"2015-05-09T14:40:26","date_gmt":"2015-05-09T21:40:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.careersingovernment.com\/tools\/?p=4501"},"modified":"2015-05-09T14:44:20","modified_gmt":"2015-05-09T21:44:20","slug":"government-communicators-the-inside-track","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.careersingovernment.com\/tools\/gov-talk\/career-advice\/on-the-job\/government-communicators-the-inside-track\/","title":{"rendered":"Government Communicators: The Inside Track"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.careersingovernment.com\/tools\/gov-talk\/career-advice\/on-the-job\/government-communicators-the-inside-track\/attachment\/government-communicators\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-4503\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft  wp-image-4503\" src=\"https:\/\/www.careersingovernment.com\/tools\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/government-communicators.jpg\" alt=\"government communicators\" width=\"470\" height=\"312\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.careersingovernment.com\/tools\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/government-communicators.jpg 648w, https:\/\/www.careersingovernment.com\/tools\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/government-communicators-300x199.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.careersingovernment.com\/tools\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/government-communicators-480x319.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 470px) 100vw, 470px\" \/><\/a>For as long as there have been <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nagconline.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">government communicators<\/a> and media who report on government, there has been lively debate on the function and value of government communicators. My post today adds to that discussion between the \u201cflacks\u201d and the \u201chacks\u201d whose symbiotic relationship fuels our democracy through the free and open exchange of public information and ideas. As a government communicator with more than 27 years of full-time and part-time (collateral duty) public affairs experience gained through 29 years of active duty military service, one year of service as a federal employee, I feel uniquely qualified to speak on the matter.<\/p>\n<p>Hacks (media) and flacks (government communicators) need each other, we give and take from each other to keep interested audiences informed about the activities of their local, state and federal government agencies. Flacks need the media to help tell their agency\u2019s story \u2013 hacks need flacks to gain access to sources, information and story content.<\/p>\n<p>I have always viewed my position as a government communicator as a privilege, and I\u2019ve always felt humbled and honored to serve our nation in this capacity.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a privilege to tell the story of the agencies I have worked for, whether it be through capturing and marketing imagery, authoring news releases and feature stories, conducting on camera, live, in-studio or phone interviews with media, engaging communities in social media, developing website content, publishing magazines or newsletters, developing communication strategies, conducting response and crisis communications, staffing static displays or giving facility tours. Being the voice of an agency when it\u2019s celebrating its crowning achievement, when consoling families and friends when having to announce the loss of life, or serving as the spokesperson for an agency at the zenith of its success, or in the darkest of its troubled days of a crisis of reputation, is a privilege so few in government have the opportunity to embrace and be humbled by.<\/p>\n<p>With this privilege comes significant responsibility. Government communicators must speak truth to power and serve as the champions of accountability and transparency \u2013 often in organizations reluctant to engage audiences and often at significant career risk. We communicate the truth, following an axiom of \u2018maximum disclosure with minimum delay\u2019 bounded by the tenants of security, accuracy, policy and propriety.<\/p>\n<p>With our privilege comes the duty to keep citizens informed about the activities of their government, not just when convenient or when things are good, but also, and with equal resolve and vigor, when things have gone wrong, or when facts come to light that do not reflect favorably on our agency. We strive to ensure information is withheld only when there are clear legal reasons to do so, including operational security, information security, and privacy act requirements. We provide context to the facts we release, but we do not editorialize, and we never lie.<\/p>\n<p>To accomplish our mission we provide journalists the information they need to develop and write stories, within the boundaries of the law. We provide them access to subject matter experts so that they can get details that explain the intricacies of policy or technical information. We are not the gatekeepers of information or access, no; we are the professionals who facilitate journalists\u2019 access to information, imagery and people. Government communicators work in a dynamic and complex environment, spurred by the nearly instantaneous sharing of imagery and information via the digital information environment.<\/p>\n<p>The challenges associated with working in this environment make me appreciate organizations like the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nagconline.com\/CommunicationsSchool\/default.asp\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">National Association of Government Communicators<\/a>, for which I serve on the board of directors, because it is dedicated to the profession of government communications. NAGC\u2019s code of ethics reflects our true north and our approach to government communication, \u201cMembers of the National Association of Government Communicators pledge and profess dedication to the goals of better communication, understanding and cooperation among all people. We believe that truth is inviolable and sacred; that providing public information is an essential civil service; and that the public-at-large and each citizen therein has a right to equal, full, understandable, and timely facts about their government.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I doubt this blog post alone can change anyone\u2019s preconceived notions about the role of \u201cflacks\u201d but I do hope you\u2019re less inclined to think of us as spin-doctors, propagandists or publicists. We are government communicators, and we tell the stories of government.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For as long as there have been government communicators and media who report on government, there has been lively debate on the function and value of government communicators. My post today adds to that discussion between the \u201cflacks\u201d and the \u201chacks\u201d whose symbiotic relationship fuels our democracy through the free and open exchange of public [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3035,"featured_media":4503,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_cbd_carousel_blocks":"[]","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[35,7],"class_list":["post-4501","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-on-the-job","tag-government-trends","tag-government-work"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Government Communicators: The Inside Track - Careers in Government<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.careersingovernment.com\/tools\/gov-talk\/career-advice\/on-the-job\/government-communicators-the-inside-track\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Government Communicators: The Inside Track - Careers in Government\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"For as long as there have been government communicators and media who report on government, there has been lively debate on the function and value of government communicators. 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My post today adds to that discussion between the \u201cflacks\u201d and the \u201chacks\u201d whose symbiotic relationship fuels our democracy through the free and open exchange of public [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.careersingovernment.com\/tools\/gov-talk\/career-advice\/on-the-job\/government-communicators-the-inside-track\/","og_site_name":"Careers in Government","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CareersInGovernment","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/NationalAssociationofGovernmentCommunicators","article_published_time":"2015-05-09T21:40:26+00:00","article_modified_time":"2015-05-09T21:44:20+00:00","og_image":[{"width":648,"height":430,"url":"https:\/\/www.careersingovernment.com\/tools\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/government-communicators.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Chris O'Neil","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@NAGC","twitter_site":"@careersingov","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Chris O'Neil","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.careersingovernment.com\/tools\/gov-talk\/career-advice\/on-the-job\/government-communicators-the-inside-track\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.careersingovernment.com\/tools\/gov-talk\/career-advice\/on-the-job\/government-communicators-the-inside-track\/"},"author":{"name":"Chris O'Neil","@id":"https:\/\/www.careersingovernment.com\/tools\/#\/schema\/person\/8e8491c4c7439b89382b872804b9811a"},"headline":"Government Communicators: The Inside Track","datePublished":"2015-05-09T21:40:26+00:00","dateModified":"2015-05-09T21:44:20+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.careersingovernment.com\/tools\/gov-talk\/career-advice\/on-the-job\/government-communicators-the-inside-track\/"},"wordCount":728,"commentCount":1,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.careersingovernment.com\/tools\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.careersingovernment.com\/tools\/gov-talk\/career-advice\/on-the-job\/government-communicators-the-inside-track\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.careersingovernment.com\/tools\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/government-communicators.jpg","keywords":["Government trends","Government work"],"articleSection":["on the job"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.careersingovernment.com\/tools\/gov-talk\/career-advice\/on-the-job\/government-communicators-the-inside-track\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.careersingovernment.com\/tools\/gov-talk\/career-advice\/on-the-job\/government-communicators-the-inside-track\/","url":"https:\/\/www.careersingovernment.com\/tools\/gov-talk\/career-advice\/on-the-job\/government-communicators-the-inside-track\/","name":"Government Communicators: The Inside Track - 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In his position at CBP he directs the activities of 94 personnel in the conduct of all forms of government communication to inform the public about the missions, operations and people of CBP. O\u2019Neil\u2019s began his public affairs career as a unit public affairs representative and base newspaper stringer during his service in the Air Force. He later enlisted in the Coast Guard and became a public affairs specialist. After earning his commission he later served as the 7th Coast Guard District public affairs officer, and went on to become the service\u2019s Chief of Media Relations and finally Chief of Strategic Communications. O\u2019Neil joined the National Association of Government Communicators in 2012 and was elected to the Board of Directors in 2013, serving as the association\u2019s Communications Director. 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