152
PRESS, BROADCASTING AND CINEMA
The department is organised in three main divisions-news, technical services and public relations, with certain services common to all three. The most familiar service to the Hong Kong public is the news division which is linked by teleprinter to 68 newspapers, news agencies, radio and television stations as well as City District Offices. Divided into two sections, one dealing with the press and the other with radio news, the news division is completely bi-lingual. The press section channels informa- tion to newspapers, produces a daily information bulletin and deals with press enquiries 24 hours a day. The radio news section prepares world and local news for Hong Kong's radio stations and Rediffusion Television. Each day it produces 40 radio news bulletins of between two-minutes and 10-minutes in length.
Although their activities are less well-known locally, the other two divisions of Government Information Services are concerned with a variety of activities that extend far beyond the boundaries of Hong Kong. Technical services has both local and overseas commitments, producing magazine and newspaper feature articles, photo- graphs, newsreels, booklets and every type of visual publicity.
The largest division within the department, technical services, comprises five sec- tions: publications and editorial, design and display, photographic, films and, finally, marketing-which is responsible for the entire distribution, at home and abroad, of something like half a million booklets and news sheets each year. In addition the marketing section is responsible for the research and compilation of data necessary to ensure that all material will reach the targeted audience with economy and efficiency. The marketing section also controls the photographic library which meets both world- wide and local demand for colour and black and white photographs of all Hong Kong events, whether topical or of more general interest. There is also a film lending library and a mobile film unit which stages open-air film shows in urban areas of Hong Kong and Kowloon.
Another major responsibility of the division is the planning and implementation of all government publicity campaigns. Almost 40 of these publicity campaigns were carried out during the year, ranging from road safety and police recruiting to persuad- ing parents to have their children inoculated and vaccinated. The massive Keep Hong Kong Clean Campaign was run with a special team consisting of staff from all divi- sions of Government Information Services and Radio Hong Kong.
The editorial section of the technical services division employs qualified jour- nalists who write material under contract for a worldwide press syndication service. The scope covers economics, public works and utilities, and social and cultural matters. Features are also translated into Chinese for the Chinese press of South- East Asia. During the year, many of the world's trade journals carried features written by the editorial section; covering such topics as the cross-harbour tunnel, desalina- tion schemes, port facilities, air freight, and even the oceanarium project. Along with many publications and fact sheets describing various government departments, this Annual Report is also a responsibility of the editorial section. A weekly news digest for the overseas reader is also produced. Feature articles are backed by sets of photo- graphs conforming to the highest standard of world photo-journalism. The well- equipped modern photographic section employs first-rate professional photographers and darkroom technicians, who produce hundreds of prints each week.