Government budget season is upon us. Journalists have been inundated with news releases and press conferences before, during and after budget presentations. Organizations, political pundits and special interest groups are eagerly awaiting interviews and offering “expert” analysis on how the budgets will affect them.
How does the media prepare for covering budgets? How are journalists able to get the details out so quickly after they are released in the legislative buildings?
Welcome to the world of embargoes and “lock-ups”.
For provincial budgets, some journalists receive the information before the actual moment when the finance minister reads his or her speech. They sign for advance copies of the budget documents, in some cases the evening before. The morning of budget day provides embargoed technical briefings with financial officials and news conferences with the minister of finance.
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In the case of the federal budget, reporters are “locked up” after receiving the embargoed material in the morning so they can’t reveal any information before the budget comes down.
These embargoes allow journalists more time to scrutinize the numbers, prepare their stories and graphics and interrogate the financial architects on various areas of the budget they constructed.
While the budget speech may seem straightforward, the accompanying documents are generally complicated as they explain past expenditures, project the year ahead for income and expenses, announce new initiatives, explain old and new taxes, etcetera.
Embargoes also provide governments with more control over the media and less chance of details leaked to the public in advance.
Journalists are given strict rules on what they do with the material, who they can speak to about it and when.
Next week: Saskatchewan’s rules.
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