page_title: Political campaign staff
section_title: Communications department
hierarchical_section_title: Political campaign staff / Departments and their respective purposes / Communications department
caption_attribution_description: English: Our Ukraine–People's Self-Defense Bloc campaign material in Bila Tserkva (Augustus 2007)
context_page_description: Political campaign staff are the group of people who formulate and implement the strategy of a political campaign. Campaign staffs are generally composed both of unpaid volunteers and paid employees of either the campaign itself or a related political party. The staff may include political consultants who provide advice and assistance to a campaign.
context_section_description: The communications department oversees both the press relations and advertising involved in promoting the campaign in the media. They are responsible for the campaign's message and image among the electorate. Press releases, advertisements, phone scripts, and other forms of communication must be approved by this department before they can be released to the public.  The staffers within this office vary widely from campaign to campaign. However, they generally include:
  A communications director who oversees the entirety of the campaign's messaging, message planning, media relations, and the whole communications staff.
  A press secretary who monitors the media and coordinates the campaign's relations with the press. Press secretaries set up interviews between the candidate and reporters, brief the press at press conferences, and perform other tasks involved in press relations.
  A rapid response director who makes sure that the campaign responds quickly to the attacks of the other campaigns. They and their staff constantly monitor the media and the moves of their opponents, making sure that attacks are rebutted quickly.
  Creative team managing all visual communications and ensuring consistency of campaign materials/merchandise (both print and digital) through web design, graphic design, advertising, promotional items. Often these staffers work closely with the IT department.
caption: Our Ukraine–People's Self-Defense Bloc campaign material in Ukraine, August 2007.
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