The Toronto Star ran a six-part series this week on the Secret Capital -- a look at how the Conservative government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper manages information. I've excerpted the media-related parts.

From How Harper controls the spin (May 26):

In the 6th-floor office of a nondescript building sit the gatekeepers, the bureaucrats who decide what Canadians learn about the workings of their government.

Questions on the hot issues of the day all get funnelled through this office, the "communications and consultations" unit of the Privy Council Office, housed in the Blackburn building that fronts the Sparks St. pedestrian mall.

Throughout the government, it's known simply as "downtown," the place where decisions are made on who speaks on issues and what they say. In the Conservative government's clampdown on communications, this is Ground Zero.

Public appearances by cabinet ministers – whether it's a speech or an interview – are carefully staged, starting with a "message event proposal" vetted by the Privy Council Office, the bureaucratic wing of the Prime Minister's Office (PMO).

And in a marked change from previous governments, now even basic demands for information from reporters, once easily fielded by department spokespersons, are sent to this office for review – and often heavy editing – before they are okayed for public release, government insiders say.

Working in close tandem with the PMO, they are the filter for information – and often the roadblock, veteran insiders say.

"Everything is being ultra-centralized. That's why there are delays. Nothing gets responded to on time and when there is a response, it's useless," said one insider familiar with the communications strategy.

"It's a very deliberate philosophy. They don't want to communicate through the media, they don't want to engage media, they don't want to answer questions," the official said.

"If you want to tell your story, you'v e got to let people talk. And right now, there's nobody talking," the official said.

From Mum's the word until message vetted (May 26):

No federal cabinet minister speaks to a journalist, gives a speech or makes a policy announcement until a "message event proposal" has been vetted by a wing of the Prime Minister's Office.

That proposal, prepared by a minister's communications staff, spells out the venue, topic, expected questions and the politician's speaking lines. It's only after the proposal receives high-level approval by the Privy Council Office – the bureaucratic branch of the PMO – that the event can proceed, insiders say.

That's one example of how the Tories have centralized control over government communications since taking power in February 2006, officials tell the Star.

The Privy Council Office has a "central role in the co-ordination and management of government communications, as determined by the Prime Minister and cabinet," said spokesperson Shawn Salewski.

However, in an email he said there "has been no change in policy or role of the Privy Council Office."

But that view was disputed by officials in several departments. While every government has sought to co-ordinate its public response on big issues, the Conservatives have introduced an unprecedented level of co-ordination – and control – over their messages, bureaucrats say.

Even responses to routine questions are being screened by bureaucrats working under the wing of the Prime Minister.

From Information access system hobbled (May 28)

Obtaining documents has definitely become more difficult under the Harper government, remarks Ottawa access-to-information researcher Ken Rubin. "The Prime Minister has made no bones about the fact that he wants only the messages out that he wants out."

The record reflects these complaints. In 2005-06, a period covered mostly by Liberal rule, 28.4 per cent of information requests resulted in full disclosure by the government. In only one year, with the Conservatives in power, that had dropped to 23.1 per cent.

And in 2006-07, according to Treasury Board data, the number of requests that took more than 31 days of consultation within the government before release went up nearly 75 per cent, to 2,320 from 1,330 the previous year.

 From The big stuff gets away from Harper (May 30):

Harper shares one trait with his predecessors – despite their avowed (and sometimes justified) animosity, they are also fascinated. All prime ministers, Harper included, insist they don't read or watch their own press coverage. Yet they spend enormous amounts of energy trying to control, punish, discipline or steer that same media. Reporters in Ottawa were tracking for a while there how often Harper made a reference to the media or his coverage when he spoke. No one avowedly unconcerned with the journalists would do that as often.

What makes this climate different is that Harper is essentially the only public face of the government. He has no deputy or friendly advisers to soften the harsh message-control fixation. Tom Flanagan, in his book, Harper's Team, says this prime minister likes his press aides to be "self-effacing" – a synonym, maybe, for unquestioning and invisible.

What's also different about this government is that many ministers, when they do speak, are in attack mode. Past prime ministers usually let backbenchers or strident partisans do the heckling and goading of political rivals; in Harper's Ottawa, all senior ministers are expected to lace their speeches with scorn for opponents. They are not punished, either, by and large, for stretching the truth or playing loose with facts if it's all for the cause of making the enemy look bad. This too is new; past prime ministers usually insisted that ministers look, well, ministerial.

The most significant difference between Harper's message-management style and past prime ministers, however, is in its open resentment to the press pack. It readily acknowledges its intention to set media rivals against each other, to play favourites, to provide only the information that makes it look good.

In that way, this government's message-management approach looks less like a strategy and more like an attitude, plain and simple. The past week has demonstrated that the attitude may have its limits.