rural governments Find a voice

By LI WUZHOU

WITH a history of about a decade, the press spokesperson system is new in China. Especially when it comes to county and township governments, the system is still in its infancy. On a recent visit to Changfeng County in Hefei City, Anhui Province, China Today reporters were surprised to learn that there were 67 spokespersons for the local county and township governments. To learn more about how this quintessentially Western system of government-media contact has affected rural society, China Today interviewed several of the countys press spokespersons.

On June 20, 2011 the election of representatives to the CPC Changfeng County Congress had just wrapped up, and a press conference, the first ever held in the county, was underway. Xia Lunping, deputy secretary of the CPC Changfeng County Committee, was acting as media spokesman. He briefed reporters on work done by the County Party Committee in the previous term and summed up aims, tasks and guidelines for the Party Committee going into the next. Reporters from more than 10 national and local media institutions, including Xinhua News Agency, Anhui Daily and Hefei TV, attended the press conference and raised questions.

“You know, the leaders of the County Party Committee were a little worried about this press conference. Its the first time weve done such a thing, and nobody even asked us to do it. But it was worthwhile. Weve made public the work of the County Party Committee and increased transparency. People will better understand what we do now,” Xu Shengbin, director of the countys publicity department who presided over the press conference, told China Today.

On July 7, 2011 the first batch of 67 spokespersons, including 15 for township governments in Changfeng County, completed their training. Most of them were deputy heads of their departments or governments, and a few were top leaders. For the press conferences themselves, the county government set aside a hall, anteroom and information room in the countys Party School.

To increase transparency of government affairs, in 2001 the central government introduced the press spokesperson system from abroad to its ministries and commissions. Later, the central authorities required local governments and Party committees at various levels to establish the system. Last year, the number of press conferences given by the central and provincial authorities alone topped 1,700. In Hefei, press spokespersons now feature in the municipal government and the Party committee and in all departments directly under the municipal government.

As the first county in Anhui Province to promote the

ming after class without parental supervision, the parents of the deceased children still blamed the school and protested in front of the township government. At the time, the press spokesperson system had just been introduced, so the spokesperson for the township government took charge of dealing with the media over the incident and ensured reporters access to all information on the case.The public fuss soon subsided and the matter was settled peacefully.

In 2008, a student accidentally fell from a multi-story school building in Changfeng County. Many reporters rushed to the scene to cover the story while the police were still investigating the case. The school had no spokesman and didnt know how to cope with the media attention, and closed its doors to them. Reporters resented the lockout and resorted to interviewing parents and students about the incident, most of whom relayed hearsay. Subsequent media reports were inaccurate as a result. When the report of police investigation was eventually released it was already too late to avoid the media fallout and drop in public trust of local educational department.

A Tough Job

Zhu Yingchun is the only press spokesman for the Duji Township government. Recalling his first press conference, Zhu sighs with emotion: “Sure, ours is a small town, but its not easy to be a press spokesman.”

On August 24 last year, Duji Township held its first press conference, titled: “Emphasizing education and focusing on peoples livelihoods.” The press conference was planned to last for 40 minutes but went on for almost two hours. When it finally ended, Zhu was exhausted, both physically and mentally.

“I was really nervous – it was my first time as a press spokesperson. I hadnt received any professional training and I wasnt sure how to deal with domestic, let alone foreign, media. I was caught unprepared by reporters questions, some of which were unrelated to the conference topic,” Zhu said.

After that first press conference, Zhu realized he needed to hone his press skills. In an effort to improve his standard Mandarin, daily one-hour reading and half-hour news watching ensued. As a press spokesperson for township government, Zhu is expected to be proficient on a broad range of media topics, such as agriculture, tourism, education and ecology.

“But in addition to dealing with media, we also collect information from various departments and survey public opinion online. Its a lot of work, “ said Kuai Wenhua, press spokeswoman and vice director of the Changfeng County Health Bureau. Kuai said she had been feeling the pressure since she took on her press role.

“Im just happy to be able to help my town,” said Zhu. “I get to learn about topics I would have never encountered before and Ive made many friends in the media.” There doesnt need to be an antagonistic relationship between the government and the media. But often when left to their own devices, both sides become suspicious and distrusting of each other. Press spokespersons have an incredibly important role to play. They are part-government; part-media, and all about helping the people get accurate news as quickly as possible.