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COMMUNICATIONS, THE MEDIA AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

media, advertising and public relations sectors. An allocation of $290,000 from the council enabled the board to arrange various courses, talks and seminars with professional bodies such as the Hong Kong News Executives' Association, the Hong Kong Journalists Association, the Newspaper Society of Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Advertisers Association, the Association of Accredited Advertising Agents of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Public Relations Professionals' Association. Popular activities included a management course for managerial or supervisory level staff of media organisations, a knowledge enhancement programme for journalists entitled 'China Today', and a 'Marketing, Advertising and PR Symposium' for advertising executives and public relations professionals.

Information Policy

The Secretary for Home Affairs has overall responsibility for policy formulation on information and related matters while the Director of Information Services advises the Government on the presentation of its policies, and on public relations matters generally, within Hong Kong and overseas. The main aims are to ensure an open exchange of information in the community and to keep the media fully informed of the Government's plans, policies and activities, and to promote Hong Kong's image abroad.

Information Services Department

The Information Services Department (ISD) serves as the Government's public relations consultant, news agency, publisher and advertising agent. It provides the link between the Administration and the media and, through the latter, enhances public understanding of government policies, decisions and activities.

The department is organised into five divisions: Local Public Relations, Publicity, Overseas Public Relations, Visits and Promotions Outside Hong Kong, and Administration. At year-end, it had a staff of 509, of whom 317 were Information Grade officers. A significant number of these information officers 187 operated outside ISD headquarters to provide information, publicity and public relations services to policy bureaux and their departments.

The ISD has been implementing progressively an information system to improve the quality of its services through computer links. It issues press releases to news organisations through the computerised Government News Information System and to the public through the Government Information Centre (GIC) (http://www.gov.hk), the Government's Internet home page. The GIC also provides links to more than 150 home pages of government agencies and related organisations. The Digital Photo System allows news organisations to search online and download government photographs round-the-clock.

All major government press conferences and briefings in particular those given by the Chief Executive, the Chief Secretary for Administration and the Financial Secretary are webcast live on the Internet, and the proceedings kept for reference in a video archive that is accessible through the GIC. Major events such as the annual Policy Address by the Chief Executive and the Budget Speech by the Financial Secretary are also webcast live, and can be heard in Chinese or English. Dissemination of government news is strengthened by way of a government electronic bulletin (http://www.news.gov.hk).

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