COMMUNICATIONS AND THE MEDIA
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services enable government offices overseas to receive messages without delay and to communicate directly to the department and, through it, to the rest of the government. The News Division also operates a 24-hour media enquiry service which handles nearly 20 000 questions every month.
During an emergency such as a typhoon, the newsroom becomes a co-ordination centre to distribute up-to-date information to the media, particularly the radio and television stations, to keep the public informed of developments. Apart from this mobilisation of both manpower and equipment in the newsroom, other staff man various key positions within the government's organisation for managing emergencies, contributing to the minute by minute flow of information.
The Public Relations Division has three sub-divisions: media research, departmental units and overseas. The media research sub-division keeps the government fully informed of public opinion as expressed in the information media. It produces the Gist, a daily news sheet in English which summarises news and editorial comment in the major Chinese- language papers, and the TV Gist, its counterpart for radio and television. It also produces Opinion, a weekly review of Chinese editorial comment, a new weekly publication titled What the Magazines Say, and a special weekly summary on coverage in the media about the future of Hong Kong.
The departmental units sub-division co-ordinates the operation of the 23 information and public relations units in government departments, plus another in the Secretariat. These units issue press releases, arrange press conferences and site visits and answer many media inquiries concerning the activities and aims of their respective departments. Through these efforts they play a major role in maintaining the flow of information and helping to improve relations with the public. The sub-division is also responsible for producing the Hong Kong News Digest, a fortnightly newspaper in Chinese which helps Hong Kong Chinese overseas to maintain contact with Hong Kong.
The overseas public relations sub-division co-ordinates the government's publicity efforts overseas, produces feature articles, prepares radio tapes and short films for television and assists visiting journalists with their requests for information and interviews with govern- ment officers. Its staff also work closely with news agencies and overseas journalists based in Hong Kong. In 1983, the sub-division assisted 545 overseas journalists, 50 other visitors and distributed 120 feature articles.
The Publicity Division embraces the creative, publishing and promotional resources of the department. Its ambit includes photography and film-making, an extensive photo- graphic library, the staging of exhibitions, the design of books, leaflets and posters, publishing activities, the design and placement of all government advertising and in-service training for GIS staff.
GIS produces a wide variety of publications ranging from leaflets and fact sheets to the Hong Kong Annual Report – which is the best-selling hardback book in the territory -- and other full-colour books. Sales of government publications rose by 20 per cent to more than $17.4 million in 1983, compared with $14.5 million in 1982. The division plans and carries out all government publicity campaigns. In addition to major campaigns such as Anti- Narcotics, Crime Prevention, Industrial Safety, Road Safety and Fire Prevention being continued, two new ones were launched in 1983, one on the hazards of smoking and the other to publicise the issue of the new identity card. About 30 minor campaigns were conducted, such as those concerned with Gas Safety, Country Parks, Police Recruit- ment and Safety in Outdoor Pursuits. In addition to arranging media publicity, many