WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4, 1984
GIS' OVERSEAS EFFORTS REAP PUBLICITY BENEFITS
****
GOVERNMENT'S EFFORTS IN PROJECTING A TRUE IMAGE OF HONG KONG ABROA ARE REAPING A RICH HARVEST OF GOOD PUBLICITY, THE DIRECTOR OF INFORMATION SERVICES, MR PETER TSAO, SAID TODAY (WEDNESDAY).
ADDRESSING A LUNCHEON MEETING OF THE ROTARY CLUB OF KOWLOON WEST, MR TSAO POINTED OUT THAT THESE EFFORTS ARE AIMED NOT JUST AT PROMOTING GOVERNMENT POLICIES BUT ALSO AT GIVING A BALANCED OVERALL PICTURE OF THE TERRITORY'S SOCIAL SYSTEM, ITS LAISSEZ FAIRE ECONOMY, ITS BUSINESS SECTOR, AND ITS UNIQUE PLACE IN THE WORLD.
+TO GIVE JUST ONE EXAMPLE: A RECENT AND TIMELY FILM ABOUT THE CABBAGE PATCH DOLLS BEING MADE IN HONG KONG WAS SHOWN TO A WORLD-WIDE TELEVISION AUDIENCE ESTIMATED AT UP TO 200 MILLION, A GREAT PUBLICITY BOOST FOR HONG KONG'S TOY INDUSTRY AT CHRISTMAS TIME, HE SAID.
THE FILM, MADE BY GIS'S OVERSEAS PUBLIC RELATIONS SUB- DIVISION AT A COST OF A FEW THOUSAND DOLLARS, WAS ONLY ONE OF 15 FILM CLIPS AND 30 RADIO TAPES PRODUCED BY THE UNIT LAST YEAR.
IN 1983, THE UNIT ALSO PRODUCED 120 FEATURE ARTICLES COVERING ALL ASPECTS OF HONG KONG LIFE FROM BUSINESS TO TRANSPORT, AND FROM THE LEGAL SYSTEM TO EDUCATION, FOR THE OVERSEAS PRINT MEDIA.
+THESE HAVE APPEARED IN NEWSPAPERS AND MAGAZINES IN AUSTRALIA, EUROPE,
THE UNITED STATES, BRITAIN, SOUTH-EAST ASIA AND THE CARIBBEAN, HE SAID.
MR TSAO POINTED OUT, HOWEVER, THAT ANY EDITOR OF ANY MEDIUM WOULD PLACE MORE CREDENCÉ ON REPORTS SENT IN BY HIS OWN STAFF.
+GIS HAS LONG RECOGNISED THIS AND HAS AN ACTIVE PROGRAMME OF ENCOURAGING FOREIGN JOURNALISTS TO VISIT HONG KONG TO SEE THE PLACE FOR THEMSELVES, HE SAID.
HE STRESSED THAT GIS BELIEVES IN LETTING THE FACTS SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES, AND THAT ANY VISITING JOURNALIST GIVEN A MAXIMUM EXPOSURE TO AS MANY ASPECTS OF HONG KONG AS POSSIBLE IS BOUND TO GO AWAY WITH A FAVOURABLE IMPRESSION OF THE TERRITORY.
+THIS BELIEF HAS BEEN BORNE OUT IN PRACTICE.
+MOST OF THESE VISITING JOURNALISTS WRITE BALANCED AND IN
MOST CASES FAVOURABLE ARTICLES ON THE TERRITORY.
+IN 1983 GIS OVERSEAS PUBLIC RELATIONS SUB-DIVISION HANDLED ALMOST 550 VISITORS OF WHOM ABOUT 260 WERE PRINT MEDIA JOURNALISTS, ANOTHER 260 FROM RADIO, TELEVISION AND FILM COMPANIES, WHILE THE REST INCLUDED SOCIOLOGISTS, MEDICAL GROUPS AND EVEN MISSIONARIES, + HE SAID.
MR TSAO POINTED OUT THAT ALL THESE EFFORTS WERE NECESSARY BECAUSE MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT HONG KONG STILL EXIST.
MR TSAO CONCLUDED BY SAYING +WE FEEL THAT OUR EFFORTS ARE PRODUCING, BIT BY BIT, A MORE BALANCED PICTURE OF WHAT HONG KONG IS, +
/6