Media management was key to ensuring that the Chancellor's bad news did not dominate its announcements on boosting infrastructure spending – now we need to look at the small print, says Michael Burton.

The challenge for George Osborne this last week has been how to ensure that the bad news, which we all knew was coming, did not bury all his efforts to show the coalition understands the electorate's pain. He had hundreds of millions to announce in extra spending on infrastructure, housing and youth employment.