China Spokespersons Forum is held in Shanghai on November 5, the first of its kind (XINHUA)

Jiao Yang remembers having had butterflies in her stomach when she held her first press conference in 2003. Jiao, the first spokesperson of the Shanghai Municipal Government, was a greenhorn at that time. And to make her nervousness worse, there were almost no examples she could follow, as China's spokesperson system was in its infancy.

Finally, Jiao wrote several drafts of her opening speech and then carried them to the podium.

Today, Shanghai has a well-developed spokesperson system which issues press releases within an hour of a major emergency, followed by a press conference within 24 hours. Since 2008, the press conferences are attended by the mayor of Shanghai as well.

Jiao, a veteran today, talked about her experience at the first China Spokespersons Forum held in Shanghai on November 5.

Sponsored by the Information Office of the State Council and China Executive Leadership Academy, Pudong, the event was attended by government and state-owned enterprise spokespersons as well as scholars.

Its theme echoed the rationale behind having official spokespersons: "to tell China's stories well."

Currently, the entire nation has adopted the news release system with a lot of departments disclosing information regularly.

Starting from scratch

China's spokesperson system officially started in 1983, when Qi Huaiyuan, then Director General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Information Department, was appointed the first spokesperson of the ministry, presiding over its first press conference.

However, it was not until 2003 that the system was widely embraced by other ministries and government departments across the country. It was the year when China was hit by the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome crisis and the Central Government urged ministries to have their own spokespersons to release relevant information in a timely manner.

Today, China has a three-tier news release and spokesperson system, composed of the Information Office of the State Council, ministries and local governments. Apart from the spokespersons, the ministries have their own websites, Facebook and WeChat accounts to disseminate news and information regularly.

In this era of information technology, everyone aspires to be a "spokesperson," using their cellphones and computers to say anything they want at any time.

Due to this flood of unofficial information, the release of news by authoritative outlets is increasingly important and valuable. How can the public's demand for reliable news and information be met? That was one of the major topics discussed at the forum.

Since spokespersons are the ones directly facing the media, their knowledge of the work of their organizations is crucial to the success of information released to the public.

"Any misreading of the policies on public livelihood could lead to media hype and even chaos in society," said Li Zhong, spokesperson of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security. "I have to sit in on important meetings, join in the drafting of documents, and take part in the coordination of major reform measures so that I can answer questions on employment, social security, income distribution and so on with confidence."

Yang Yujun, spokesperson of the Ministry of National Defense, echoed Li. "Before every news conference, we spend a lot of time collecting public opinions on current issues related to the military," Yang said. "We try to figure out the issues the media would be interested in. When it comes to topics we are not well-versed in, we consult relevant authorities."

Yang also let the audience in on a professional secret: spokespersons practice how to field possible media questions with their colleagues, who stand in as pesky journalists.

"A lot of military events involve more than one country and have international impacts. Foreign media from outside China account for two fifths of the journalists attending our regular press conferences. So to do a good job, a defense ministry spokesperson must know foreign policies, military diplomacy and international communication," Yang added.

Yang explained how a spokesperson, who often handles questions on sensitive issues, especially from foreign media, handles such queries.

"Such questions are unavoidable in press conferences," he said. "We insist that hot topics are responded to. If not, there would be more speculations and even rumors at home and abroad. When media raise such questions, they are actually providing us with opportunities to address the public's concerns and doubts."

He stressed that the booming new media make it impossible to cover up sensitive issues. Delaying or avoiding such questions can only result in rumors flying everywhere.

As the Sinopec Group's experience has shown, greater information transparency can help turn around negative opinion.

Lu Dapeng, spokesperson of the state-owned enterprise that has one third of its businesses and assets outside China, recalled that four years ago, 42.6 percent of public opinion on the company was negative. But it dropped to 8.7 percent in 2015.

"This progress is attributed to regular information releases and the maturing of the company's spokesperson system. We are also setting up this system in other countries, with 50 spokespersons working outside China. Between 2014 and 2015, we invited seven batches of foreign media to the company headquarters to conduct interviews," Lu said.

As an increasingly active player on the international stage, China is attracting more and more attention from the rest of the world. Consequently, spokespersons have to face foreign media more frequently.

"What we can do is to deliver China's authoritative messages and make the rest of the world hear China's true voice," said Guo Weimin, Vice Minister of the Information Office of the State Council.

"It's important to tell the rest of the world what China is doing, and such communication is mutually beneficial," said Cheng Manli, a professor from Peking University's School of Journalism and Communication.

Spokespersons should not be satisfied by just delivering messages. They also have the responsibility to create a sound and friendly international opinion environment by addressing misunderstandings about China, she said.

Yang Yujun, spokesperson of the Ministry of National Defense, hosts a press conference, on November 27, 2015 (XINHUA)

Need for support

Despite the progress made in China's spokesperson system, the media still complain about spokespeople that avoid questions or beat around the bush. However, spokespersons have their grievances too.

When sensitive issues or emergencies erupt, spokespersons are often the first to face the media. However, they may not have access to crucial information immediately and may not be part of the decision-making process. Therefore, they are unable to give informative answers at certain times. Many of the spokespersons attending the forum hoped for more tolerance and understanding.

Zhao Qizheng, erstwhile Minister of the Information Office of the State Council, said spokespersons should get more support from their colleagues and leaders. Zhao suggested that China's spokesperson system be shored up by laws and regulations, which are currently absent.

Guo pointed out that it's important to spell out which mistakes are tolerable and which are not: "We will not tolerate those who speak as they please and do not take the media seriously. But as long as they stick to the major principles and have the right attitude, the media should show tolerance."

Cheng with Peking University called for more support from the top leaders of spokespersons' organizations and more teamwork for every press conference.

"News releases are not the work of the spokespersons alone. There must be a team working together to collect information, research policies and work out measures to deal with emergencies," Cheng said. "Besides, top leaders' support and understanding of this work are extremely important. Their backing will ensure sufficient resources for spokespersons when preparing for press conferences."

Copyedited by Sudeshna Sarkar

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