Communication between citizens and their governments is a key measure of the health of any democracy. In this book, authors from a range of backgrounds - political science, law, media, public policy and government, as well as those who have worked as journalists, press secretaries, PR consultants and speech writers - assess the state of government communication in Australia today. They consider the political, legal and economic context of government communication including the institutions and actors involved and the relationships between them. This includes analysing the media-government relationship and how governments use ‘spin’, new media and expensive government advertising to influence media reporting and public opinion. The authors shine a spotlight on the work of government spin doctors, speechwriters and PR consultants but they also analyse the social framework of modern communications and how citizens, NGOs and governments communicate in a mediated world.