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PRESS, BROADCASTING AND CINEMA
GOVERNMENT INFORMATION SERVICES
The task of the Government Information Services is to keep both the people of Hong Kong and people overseas accurately informed of the government's aims and achievements, and the department is linked by teleprinter to 38 newspapers, news agencies and radio stations.
The department is divided into three main divisions-administra- tion, news and publicity, the latter two being staffed by specialist, professional officers. The News Division operates in two main sections-press and radio news. The press section channels in- formation to newspapers and deals with press enquiries generally, while the radio news section specializes in the preparation of world and local news bulletins for the Colony's three broadcasting and television stations. Eleven radio news bulletins in English and eight in Chinese are prepared daily, ranging in length from full 10-minute bulletins to one-minute summaries.
The Publicity Division has both local and overseas commitments, and its various sections produce magazine and newspaper feature articles, photographs, newsreels, booklets and posters. Locally, the division is responsible for handling publicity campaigns for all government departments. The editorial section provides written material for a worldwide press syndication service and for most booklets and leaflets produced in the department. It also provides scripts and commentaries for documentary films and newsreels made by the film' unit. As part of the Colony's campaign to sell more overseas, increased emphasis continued to be placed on material dealing with trade and economic subjects.
In the publications field, the main projects undertaken during the year included booklets on the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and on Social Welfare, together with "The Magic Stone', based on a film made by the department's film unit. Special booklets and leaflets were prepared for trade fairs overseas, to back up the Colony's worldwide export drive. The photographic section supplies all black and white and colour photographs for the department and also carries out many and varied photographic assignments for other government departments.
The major production completed by the department's film unit during the year was 'The Magic Stone', a short feature film in colour,