Ministerial advisers and the media

Political leaders increasingly surround themselves with advisers who combine a mix of communicative and media insight with political know-how. Despite a recent surge in scholarly work on ministerial advisers, detailed insights into how ministerial media advisers operate are scarce, and few systematic accounts exist that review the work and importance of ministerial media advisers across different countries. First we discuss - from a mediatisation theory perspective - developments in politics and media that have made media advisers necessary for political leaders. We then consider conceptual differences based on such advisers’ relations to actors in the media and wider political-administrative system. Third, we take stock of existing knowledge about ministerial media advisers and distinguish empirical varieties across countries and traditions based on the limited empirical evidence. Finally, we consider avenues for future work on ministerial media advisers.