Valga Municipality officials no longer allowed to independently reply to media inquiries
Instead of public explanations from officials and municipal employees, the public must now make do with written responses prepared at the municipal office and sent out by the communications director. Media experts say this reflects a deepening crisis of trust between the public sector and the press in Estonia.
The new communications director of Valga Municipality — the largest in Southeastern Estonia — Andero Ojamets sent a take-it-or-leave-it style letter to newsrooms, stating that from now on all media inquiries must be sent to a single municipal government address. Officials and heads of municipal agencies will no longer respond to personal emails or speak to journalists by phone.
"Through central coordination, we want to ensure that the responses are better thought out, comprehensive and meaningful. Otherwise, we might give random or incomplete answers when asked. Often, poorly considered responses lead to the need for repeated comments," said Valga Mayor Monika Rogenbaum.
"The communications director, who has a high school education, collects these responses, and through him we distribute the questions among people. Often, one, two or even three officials are not enough to compile a thorough answer. This is teamwork for us," Rogenbaum said when asked whether a school principal is less competent at preparing answers than a communications director.
The new procedure means that the public will no longer hear the personal views of a cultural or school director or a road maintenance worker. Only the municipality's general positions will reach the press, which is by no means common in Estonia, as the country enjoys a high degree of press freedom.
"This is a sign of a bigger and deeper trend: trust between the media and the public sector is declining. And maintaining that trust is really the job and responsibility of both sides. It's natural that in such a situation, the public sector feels a need to more tightly control the flow of information leaving its operations. But the flip side is that it becomes harder for the media to do their job, to obtain comprehensive and objective information and to cover issues in a way that is thoroughly examined," said communications expert Põim Kama.
The leader of the Reform Party — one of the coalition partners in Valga — Prime Minister Kristen Michal insists this is not a new directive from the ruling party.
"I believe that in a small country, communication with journalists should be as open as possible, even on critical questions. I've always been accessible myself. I don't know the specific circumstances of why in Valga the Reform Party or Isamaa made this decision. It's good that the communications director is available. They'll have to decide for themselves. But it's only by explaining your actions — even sometimes explaining bad decisions — that you can move forward," Michal said.
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Editor: Marcus Turoski, Johanna Alvin
