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COMMUNICATIONS AND THE MEDIA

Information Services Department

The Information Services Department – known also as GIS, the Government Information Services - provides the link between the administration and the information media and, through them, the people of Hong Kong.

News Division

The work of GIS is carried out by several divisions. The News Division disseminates a great variety of government information, including policy statements and official announcements, through its teleprinter and facsimile networks which are directly linked to leading newspapers, news agencies and radio and television stations. Telex and inter- national facsimile equipment in the division facilitates the speedy exchange of information with overseas offices.

Information issued to the media in the form of press releases is compiled in a Daily Information Bulletin which is published in both English and Chinese. The News Division also operates a 24-hour press enquiries service, handling an average of 20 000 questions each month. In addition, the division is responsible for organising and conducting press conferences, including year-round meet-the-media sessions by heads of government de- partments. Another media services team is responsible for planning and providing press facilities for public functions attended by top government officials and VIP visitors from

overseas.

During emergencies such as typhoons, a co-ordination centre is set up in the newsroom to disseminate up-to-date information to the media to keep the public informed of latest developments. Apart from those officers mobilised to man the centre, others are deployed to various government departments dealing with the emergency situation, to help con- tribute to the minute-by-minute flow of information.

Public Relations Division

The Public Relations Division has two sub-divisions: media research 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, as well as opinions voiced on radio and television. Other publications include Opinion, a weekly review of Chinese editorial comment, and special reports on media coverage of subjects of particular interest to the government.

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 (OPRS) assists the government's publicity efforts overseas and produces and distributes promotional material worldwide. This includes The Week in Hong Kong, a newsletter mainly on trade and economic matters, feature articles, booklets, pamphlets and television newsclips. Assistance is provided for visiting journalists requiring information and wishing to arrange interviews with government officers, and close liaison is maintained with the 126 news agencies and other overseas media organisations based in Hong Kong. This year the unit assisted 306 overseas journalists and 13 other visitors, distributed 22 features, and produced six video items for television.

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