The questions haven't changed — but answers are harder to get

In 1994, if a reporter had questions for then premier John Savage, they walked across Granville Street from Province House in downtown Halifax, entered One Government Place, rode the elevator to the seventh floor and asked the receptionist if Savage had a few minutes to spare.

More often than not, the premier would come out, answer questions and then both he and the reporter would carry on with their day.

That's also the way journalism professor Stephen Kimber remembers his time covering the House as a young reporter in the early 1970s.

"If I wanted to talk to Garnie Brown, who was the minister of tourism, I would pick up the phone and I would call," Kimber recalled.

"He talked to anybody who called him and it was always off-the-cuff."

It is simple, basic journalism but vitally important work on behalf of Nova Scotians, according to Kimber. He said that work has also become increasingly difficult to do.

Over the decades, the number of people developing and disseminating the government's message has grown and that's changed the access reporters have to officials. Meanwhile, fewer journalists are covering Nova Scotia politics.

"It is important. It's not sexy. It's not fun in many ways. But this holding politicians to account on behalf of the public is an essential part of democracy," said Kimber.

Essential, he said, but not as easy as it was decades ago.

Back in the 1990s, the provincial government also published a list of phone numbers for senior government officials that it freely shared with news organizations. If a reporter needed someone to explain a government policy or decision, they simply called the person handling that particular file.

Times have changed.

Kimber, who was recently awarded the province's highest recognition, the Order of Nova Scotia, for his "contributions to the life and people of the Province through literature, journalism and academia," said it's now rare to get an answer directly from a minister. 

"What you get is a canned statement that almost certainly was prepared by people who are more anxious to shade and nuance to prevent anybody from knowing anything."

Kimber has also noticed a pattern. New governments promise to open up the process. Then they get into office.