PUBLIC SECTOR COMMUNICATION FACING THE CHALLENGES OF OPEN GOVERNMENT: EXPLORING THE ITALIAN CONTEXT

A renewed attention on public sector communication is emerging among scholars from different countries and disciplines in a context characterized by a deeply changed media ecosystem (with a widespread use of social media) and in the open government process. Public Sector Communication has to face new challenges and the traditional key-words of public sector communication as transparency, accountability, listening, participation and governance are gaining new meanings in the new digital environment. Considering the international literature on public sector communication, with a specific attention at those scholars who have investigated the consequences of digital innovation in the public sector in order to shorten the distances between institutions and citizens, this paper will offer a critical examination of the Italian case. In particular, it will offer an analysis of the several interpretations on the public sector communication (models, paradigms, historical phases, etc.) traceable in Italian literature. Its aim is to highlight what is still relevant, what has inevitably changed and what needs to be innovated in the communication management processes. Specifically, this theoretical study addresses the following research questions: how has public sector communication been conceptualized and promoted in the last thirty years in Italy and how is it defined in relation to a deeply changed context? What challenges does public sector communication have to face in order to manage the new digital environment? To answer these questions, this contribute is based on the literature review and on the empirical studies specifically related to the Italian public sector communication. The study's findings might be questioned on communication new models that could be necessary in order to increase the public sector communication effectiveness.