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General comment on use of different mcdia
33.
To record the work of the unit by Listing use of varion 1. may be misleading for several reasons, not least because it might mugha that the medium decides the message and not, as it should be, the other way round.
What the unit has done with some success is to exploit (vot existing and some hitherto unused techniques for putting over all manej Perhaps the most easily illustrated case was the announcement by U... Director of Education of proposals for change in the School Certificatı Examination. This probably got. more press and radio coverage thun tay pinilar announcement by a head of a department because the unit wdı. Q special exercise out of it. In itself the announcement was likely to b popular but equally likely to be misunderstood. With the willing o operation of the Director of Education the mill took what were original), planned as two newspaper announcements, r wrote thea na mudio talks in. English and Chinese, produced as u follow-up a series of radio discussion. in both languages, transcribed these and issued them to the press and finally printed a few days later a bi-line phlet giving the best the talks, the comments in radio discussion and the public penolieg, f recorded in the press. If a unit capable of „kking plaple to lovigion programmes had been available the circle could lerve been closed in viglas the absolute maximum of publicity in all media. intended as a demonstration of the tremendoim possibilitiep which my b The cxovolno, hany C, realised when the publicity for Government action is pro-planned up thi..
This was an action which could be cxpceled to be popular but the va of this technique is vital in cases where Goverment action is likely to be unpopular, probably misunderstood and per exploited for propagand purposes by the communists.
was.
34.
Listing by the use of various media is also misleading becau, it minimises the main function of the unit which is to make information v. mi for Government by ensuring that it is closely meshed with the operation of the Government scue as a whole. Such a list cannot convey the importan of the information and guidance which the unit receives from the publicity committee nor the importance of research before action (without this being an excuse for delay, let it be said). A selection of tasks and themes may, in conjunction with the foregoing list, illustrate the methods of the unik. The Border
35.
A very great deal of the unit's attention has been directal tu the border even to the extent of posting the two most senior Information! Services Department staff to a special office in 48 Brigade H.Q. at Sck Kong to handle information on the border. that, following the Sha Tau Kok incidents particularly, the confidence of
The thinking behind this was the general urban population was affected by their knowledge or impression of the behaviour of the Chinese Communist Army on the border und of the security and stability of the border generally. This was a theme at which local communist propaganda worked energetically to create anxicty and alum. In town the ability of the authoritics to contain local communișt violence
/and.....
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