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PUBLICATIONS, BROADCASTING AND FILMS
to satisfy the demand for fuller coverage of local affairs a special daily 'Asian and Hong Kong' bulletin was started during the year in addition to the regular bulletins of world news.
In support of the press division's duty to supply journalists night and day with reliable and up-to-date information on public affairs, special attention has been paid to the library of cuttings and reference material. The purpose is to provide information officers of the division with adequate references and to place at the disposal of journalists useful background material. The expansion of the library has not been confined solely to official or even Hong Kong publications. It is intended to provide information on developments abroad which are of interest in the Colony.
The press division is also concerned, so far as the Government is responsible, or can assist, with the conditions under which journalists are able to carry on their work. At organized Govern- ment functions the Information Services Department undertakes the arrangement of proper facilities for the press. On these and any other occasions when journalists require special facilities, officers of the press division are present to make arrangements for them. During the year the press division took part in a number of arrangements to improve press facilities at various points. These ranged from small matters like providing access to a convenient telephone at a magistrate's court to the complete re-organization of press arrangements at the newly-opened airport terminal build- ing. The press division also serves as a point of contact with the Government for about 50 /resident correspondents of overseas newspapers, news agencies, magazines and broadcasting companies, as well as the many hundreds of foreign correspondents who visit the Colony each year.
This dual responsibility, local and overseas, is also reflected in the work of the department's publicity division, which on the one hand meets the publicity requirements of Government departments among the people of the Colony and on the other hand seeks to obtain a wide appreciation of Hong Kong's aims and achievements abroad. A new post of Chief Publicity Officer has been approved and this officer, when appointed, will take administrative control of the sections which produce publicity material in films, posters, photographs and publications of every size and kind.