The Missing Link in Government: Communications
The time is right now for government to level up its communication. Here's why.
San Jose spans 180 square miles—large enough to fit four San Franciscos or three Parises. It is the quintessential American sprawl: a landscape dominated by vast parking lots, high-speed multi-lane roads, and freeway interchanges optimized for one thing—getting you from Point A to Point B as quickly as possible by car.
When I joined San Jose’s Department of Transportation in 2019, I was tasked with advancing the city’s ambitious climate agenda. My first assignment? Eliminating minimum parking requirements from the zoning code—a decades-old policy requiring developers to build a set number of parking spaces per square foot of new construction. The result of this policy, I learned, was the sea of empty parking spaces defining San Jose’s urban fabric. At any given moment, an estimated 500 million parking spaces sit unoccupied across the U.S.
On paper, the change would be transformational: a first step toward a more walkable, people-centered city. But in practice? The hundreds of residents I spoke with during public engagement sessions found the idea laughable, even offensive.
And that’s the crux of our world today.
Policy is math; people are not.
Governments and policymakers look at models and see the world on fire. The data tells them that if we electrify everything, conserve land, build fire buffers, and live where we work, we can avert the worst and maybe even thrive. But this assumes we function as homo economicus—rational actors who seamlessly adapt when presented with new incentives.
The problem? Policy change isn’t just about shifting economic levers. It’s about shifting behaviors. And behavior change isn’t an engineering problem—it’s a psychological one.
Yet, in the world of government, communication remains an afterthought. We spend billions refining climate models, but comparatively little on understanding why people come to trust institutions, how they make decisions, and what leads them to change their behavior. This oversight isn’t just an inconvenience—it has real, sometimes catastrophic, consequences.
The Cost of Failing to Communicate
Government communication is understudied and underutilized. Having spent a decade working in this space—and surveying government communicators around the world—I’ve seen firsthand how our failure to invest in public communication leads to policy failures, reputational crises, and even loss of life.
Consider a few examples:
A 2023 peer-reviewed study found that many local, national, and international agencies routinely make severe communication errors in public crises—most recently during COVID-19. The research pointed to “pre-modern” communication models, a lack of coordination, and rigid, one-way messaging systems that failed to engage the public meaningfully.
In Recoding America, Jennifer Pahlka details why Healthcare.gov initially failed: too much emphasis on policy and process, and not nearly enough on user experience. The system was designed to function bureaucratically, not humanely.
In Poverty, By America, Matthew Desmond highlights the irony of America’s failure to make social programs accessible:
“If there’s one thing we know how to do in America, it’s market things to people. We dedicate enormous resources to getting people to buy potato chips and car tires. Why don’t we dedicate the same energy to getting people the support they need?”
In Why Housing Is So Expensive—Especially in Blue States, Ezra Klein explores how poor communication contributes to California’s housing crisis. Public polling consistently shows strong support for new housing, yet vocal local groups dominate zoning battles. This is, as Klein puts it, a “broken culture of communication.”
What’s more, inadequate government communications contributes to and is reinforced by a major public reputation crisis in the U.S., which has been steadily declining and now hovers at historic lows, no matter your party affiliation:
The evidence makes clear that government and the way it communicates need to be coaxed out of business as usual. This is the goal of Open Media Labs, to kickstart conversations about the kind of communications that can power and promote 21st century governments, communities, and citizens.
To kickstart the conversation, we’re launching a content series on Substack where we’ll explore:
Building public trust
New platforms for open democracy and policymaking
Narrative change in catalyzing action
User design
And so much more!
Through interviews with experts, community leaders, and global pioneers in government communication, we aim to uncover evidence-based strategies that empower institutions to tackle any challenge—while building a movement to sustain and scale their impact.
On my very last day working as Deputy Communications Director within the Governor’s Office, I attended a communications summit hosted by the Governor’s team. As a 24/7 job, it was refreshing to have space for reflection and connection and we were elated when the Governor showed up to speak with us. With the launch of Open Media on the horizon, his message was a clarion call: “be bold in communications, be experimental, break the rules. The world needs fearless communicators that push the boundaries of what’s possible for government now more than ever. People need you.”
We’re only just getting started. Communication asks all of us to dial in – yet once we face each other, the journey has not ended – it’s only just begun. We hope you’ll join us.