The Alberta government will spend $9,500 for a former journalist to consult and advise the premier's office on its media policies in the wake of last week's showdown with Rebel Media.

Heather Boyd, a retired journalist who served as the Western Canada bureau chief for Canadian Press, was hired on a four-week contract to provide advice to the premier's office after it admitted last week it "made a mistake" when it briefly attempted to ban the right-wing media outfit from government news conferences.

Premier Rachel Notley's spokeswoman Cheryl Oates says Boyd's contract is in line with the pay received by level 2 managers in the provincial civil service.

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Boyd will consult with members of the provincial press gallery and other media for two to three weeks before providing the government with her advice.

Boyd will likely speak to Levant in the process, Notley said Sunday during an appearance on CTV's Question Period. Meanwhile, no one will be prevented from attending government news announcements, she added.

"During that time we’ve decided that there will be no limitation to who comes to our press conferences, so any purveyor of social media or participant in social media may attend and that’s how we’re going to go forward with this," she told host Robert Fife.

mibrahim@postmedia.com

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