In the context of a crisis of trust in politicians, government communication is becoming a critical issue both in the public and private sector. As is discussed in the book Government Communication. Cases and challenges (edited by Karen Sanders and María José Canel), communication in the public sector needs to import practices, concepts and principles from the corporate communication field in order to more strategically and efficiently reach and interact with citizens. The Spanish example enshrines a trend which is common to most European Union countries: a move towards assigning more relevance and importance to communication in terms of capacity (structures, resources and knowledge), despite the budget and staff cuts prompted by the 2008 economic crisis. This article uses the Spanish case to explore 10 main challenges for government communication as practised today.
