THE MEDIA
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The United Kingdom Ministry of Defence operates the British Forces Broadcasting Service Hong Kong from studios at Sek Kong, in the New Territories. Designed to serve the particular requirements of the British and Gurkha forces stationed in Hong Kong, the station's brief is to broadcast programmes of entertainment, information and education, providing a link with home for servicemen, their families and the civilian component of the forces. The station operates one AM and two FM transmitters and produces 60 hours of programmes a week in English and Nepali. A more powerful 10 kW MF transmitter is being installed in the New Territories to replace the two kW one which has been in service for nearly 30 years. Programme plans for 1980 call for a virtual doubling of the station's output. The station is staffed mostly by Gurkha soldiers, with a small cadre of professional broadcasters and programme and engineering staff.
Government Information Services
The Government Information Services (GIS) provides a communications link between the government and the people through newspapers, magazines, radio, television and other media. The department has a staff of 340 people and is organised in three main divisions – news, publicity and public relations. During the year, one of its major functions was to create an awareness world-wide of the problems the government faced with the influx of refugees from Vietnam and illegal immigrants from China.
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The News Division is responsible for channelling government information to the media. It operates a 24-hour news service through its teleprinter and facsimile networks which are directly linked with all major newspapers, news agencies, and radio and television stations. In 1979, the News Division handled a total of 228,940 inquiries from the media – an average of about 627 a day representing an increase of 62 per cent over 1978.
During typhoons, severe tropical rainstorms or any other emergency, the division's newsroom becomes a communications centre which co-ordinates information and, mainly through radio and television, keeps the public informed of latest developments. When Typhoon Hope hit Hong Kong in August, GIS staff spent some 1,500 man hours on emergency duty in the newsroom and at various key posts in other government depart- ments which were also manned.
Departmental information units are now operating in 20 government departments and branches, including one established at the Kowloon-Canton Railway during the year. The objective of the units is to improve the flow of departmental information to the media and to promote a closer relationship with the public.
An Overseas Public Relations Section assists visiting correspondents, television and film teams, and works with news agencies and overseas journalists based in Hong Kong. International interest in the plight of the Vietnamese refugees and the rise in the number of illegal immigrants from China increased substantially the workload of the section during the year. In 1979, GIS officers arranged programmes, handled inquiries and gave briefings to 690 visiting journalists, film teams and broadcasters.
Many publications are produced by the GIS, ranging from daily news-sheets and a wide variety of leaflets and fact sheets on government and other activities to the Hong Kong Annual Report, which has become the best-selling general hardback book in Hong Kong. Sales of government publications rose by 34 per cent to more than $7.8 million in 1979, compared with $5.8 million in 1978.
The department produces in English a daily news-sheet, The Gist, which summarises. news items from Chinese newspapers and, Opinion, a weekly review of Chinese press comment. To keep people overseas up to date on local events, a weekly news-sheet in