| 11 Louise Vadheim Guldberg Director General Jacob Christian Gaardhøje Deputy Head of Division When the Government sends out a political message, it will often be in the form of a news exclusive to a selected news medium. But it is important that the ministries be aware that there are limits to when — ­and how — they can use news exclusives. A ministry gives a story to a news medium, thereby hoping for a bigger and better exposure of the story and the ministry’s messages than if the story were sent to all of the news media at the same time. The news medium on its part gets a news story before everybody else. This is the quite short explanation of the use of news exclusives. It is, we believe, common knowledge that it is a high priority in the ministries to deliver political messages effectively and with optimal impact. In that context, news exclusives are an essential tool and have become a widely used way for the Government to communicate its messages. But when ministries use news exclusives, the general administrative law principles of equality and legitimacy, among others, must be observed. There are therefore limits to the use of news exclusives, and we at the Ombudsman institution have in recent years investigated a number of cases where these limits have been the pivotal point. This article focuses on the way in which news exclusives are used in the ministries. No doubt there are similar issues in municipal administration. The legal framework for news exclusives The use of exclusives is not governed by legislation but the general administrative law principles of legitimacy and equality – which also apply to the authorities’ press service must be observed and provide a framework for when and how news exclusives can be used. This implies that there must be legitimate grounds for the use of news exclusives in the individual case. A legitimate consideration may be the wish to obtain more detailed news coverage of a Government initiative – for instance a legislative proposal or another political initiative from the minister. Thereby, the Government’s political initiatives lie within the core area of what a ministry can make the subject of a news exclusive.