COMMUNICATIONS AND THE MEDIA
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London
The News and Public Relations Unit of the Hong Kong Government Office in London works closely with GIS to provide a press service on Hong Kong matters for the British media and for Hong Kong journalists based in the United Kingdom. It also provides enquiry and information services for the public about events and developments in Hong Kong, backed by the most comprehensive library outside Hong Kong. The unit maintains close contact with journalists from both national and regional media, briefs and helps plan programmes for media visiting Hong Kong, and assists visiting journalists from Hong Kong. It organises a panel of speakers of about 100 former government officers and businessmen who have retired or now work in Britain.
The unit monitors British parliamentary proceedings and both national and regional media coverage of Hong Kong affairs, responding where necessary to inaccurate reports. It also publishes a newsletter, Dateline Hong Kong, which is distributed among organisations and individuals with a close interest in Hong Kong.
North America
In North America, media relations are conducted by the information units in the government's Economic and Trade Offices located in New York, Washington and San Francisco. During the year, a new office was opened in Toronto to strengthen repre- sentation in Canada. These offices provide a general news and information service for the media and work with GIS to produce special news releases, features and articles tailored to the specific requirements of various American and Canadian publications. Close contact is maintained with journalists in all major centres of both countries. The units also provide them with assistance and information for preparing articles on Hong Kong and help journalists visiting Hong Kong with briefings, research material and interviews. Each year the units organise in conjunction with GIS a series of sponsored visits to Hong Kong by American and Canadian journalists.
The units also handle numerous public enquiries on all types of issues. To supplement this service, a monthly digest of events and happenings in Hong Kong is produced and mailed to contacts throughout North America. The units jointly participate in the annual Radio-Television News Directors Exhibition as a means of establishing further contact with the electronic media and to publicise Hong Kong. The units also monitor the American and Canadian news media.
To strengthen these efforts a public relations firm is used to implement a public relations plan and strategy for Hong Kong, and to assist with organising speaking platforms and tours for visiting speakers from Hong Kong and senior officers of the Economic and Trade Offices in the United States.
Europe
The Brussels Office is responsible, among other things, for the government's public relations and publicity efforts in the member states of the European Community (except the United Kingdom which is the responsibility of the London Office) and in Switzerland. The public relations and press division works closely with the Information Co-ordinator's Office and GIS to give information about Hong Kong to the European media and to individuals and organisations interested in Hong Kong affairs. The division also monitors and collects