HONG KONG
ANNUAL
DEPARTMENTAL
REPORTS
1957-58
PRICE: $ 1
PUBLIC RELATIONS OFFICER
·
HONG KONG
ANNUAL DEPARTMENTAL REPORT
BY THE
PUBLIC RELATIONS OFFICER
FOR THE
FINANCIAL YEAR 1957-58
PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY W. F. C. JENNER, GOVERNMENT PRINTER
AT THE GOVernment PRESS, JAVA ROAD, HONG KONG
EXCHANGE RATES
Where dollars are quoted in this Report, they are Hong Kong dollars. The official rate for conversion to pound sterling is HK$16=£1 (HK$1=ls. 3d.). The official rate for conversion to US dollars is HK$5.714= US$1 (based on £1=US$2.80) but a more realistic, though approximate, rate based on the local fluctuating open market would be nearer HK$5.90=US$1.
GENERAL
STAFF
PRESS SECTION
VISITS, ETC.
COLONY'S NEWSPAPERS
LIBRARY
·
•
PUBLICITY SECTION.
FILM CENSORSHIP SECTION
CONTENTS
Paragraphs
1
-
4
5 - 10
11 - 20
. 21
22
23 - 24
25 - 34
. 35
GENERAL
WHILE the year brought no particularly outstanding event in the fields of news handling or publicity demanding complete mobilization of effort or sustained emergency working conditions, there was a steady increase in the work falling to be done as a matter of routine by every section of the Department.
2. Financial approval having been given to the decision to expand a little the range of services to be supplied by the Department, with particular emphasis on visual publicity, posts were created for three specialist officers, as well as for a deputy head of the Department. Officers to fill these new posts were recruited in the United Kingdom and all had reached Hong Kong by the end of the year.
3. The Department continued to handle the press relations of all other departments, as well as to issue statements of policy and information on behalf of the Government as a whole. Press arrange- ments at public functions are generally made by this Department, and several press conferences were arranged during the year for visitors with official standing.
4. Visiting journalists and publicists continued to increase in number and many visits to government institutions and projects were arranged in company with senior members of the staff. There were several examples of useful and well-informed feature articles about Hong Kong published abroad as a result of these visits.
STAFF
5. The substantive Public Relations Officer (Mr. J. L. Murray) and Press Officer (Mr. S. S. Knowles) were at their posts throughout the year.
6. Mr. J. D. Duncanson was appointed Deputy Public Relations Officer and reported for duty on 31st October. Mr. J. F. Stirling, Features Writer, reported for duty on 25th October; Mr. R. L. J. Wraight, Production Officer, on 15th January, and Mr. B. R. Hart, Films & Photographic Officer, on 9th March.
1
7. The post of Assistant Public Relations Officer was abolished on 31st March, and Mrs. E. N. Davis, who had been with the Department since 1948, retired.
8. Existing vacancies in the Press Section for an Assistant Press Officer and for two Press Translators were filled during the year after delay through recruiting difficulties, and to deal with increases of work the Film Censorship Section was enlarged by the appointment of another Chinese Censor, a Projectionist and a Clerk.
9. Mr. J. L. Murray, the Public Relations Officer, attended the combined conference of the Pacific Area Travel Association and the International Union of Official Travel Organizations at Tokyo from the 27th to the 29th August.
10. Mr. D. N. Willis, Senior Assistant Press Officer, who went to London in February 1957 to attend a study course for Information Officers organized by the Central Office of Information, returned to Hong Kong on 12th July.
PRESS SECTION
SERVICES
11. The published output of the Press Section was a little higher than in 1956-57, greater emphasis being placed on the production of local news items than on the services received from abroad. Out of 5,133 news items issued in 'hand-out' form to the press, 2,495-or nearly half the total-were local items, or an average of more than eight items issued each working day. All local items issued were published with known publications of more than 16,600 in local news- papers alone. (Only major newspapers are checked for acceptance figures.)
12. The two basic functions of the Press Section continue to be the preparation of the Daily Information Bulletin (in both English and Chinese) and news bulletins for broadcast by Radio Hong Kong three times a day. An almost round-the-clock service was maintained with Duty Officers, both English and Chinese-speaking, manning the Press Section every night from 10 p.m. onwards.
13. In May 1957 a news summary of about three minutes in Cantonese and Mandarin was introduced for broadcast over the Chinese
2
network of Radio Hong Kong at 6 o'clock each evening. A full news bulletin in the Chiuchow and Hakka dialects, each of seven minutes' duration, goes on the air immediately after the news summary.
14. The production of Daily Press Summaries, containing items of interest translated into English from Chinese newspapers for official use was increased and improved during the year, 4,154 items being translated compared with 3,836 items translated in the previous year. The format in which the Summaries appear was changed in August, the aim of new arrangement being to give the essential character of each day's vernacular press output in condensed form and to facilitate reference to the longer individually translated items.
15. Daily bulletins of Police reports, totalling 1,662 factual accounts of traffic accidents, armed robberies, thefts, etc. were issued for press use during the year. These figures are exclusive of individual press inquiries relating to Police matters, most of which are dealt with by night duty staff.
16. Good use was made by the press of topical local photographs and simplified maps, sketch plans and scale drawings made to amplify or explain text matter carried in the Daily Information Bulletin. During the year, 189 such photographs, maps, plans, etc. were distributed, with 512 acceptances as compared with 45 distributed and 195 acceptances the previous year.
17. Close liaison was maintained with the Press Relations Officers of the three Armed Services. Cordial relations were also maintained with the British Council Representative, whose press material is dis- tributed by the Press Section.
18. The output of London Press Service material was maintained and satisfactory acceptance results obtained. The special regional service for the Far East known as 'Feastco', and the specialized C.O.I. service 'Colco', dealing with Commonwealth and Colonial affairs, continued to be popular with certain sections of the local press.
19. The London Press Service is supplemented with a feature-articles service written by journalists and writers of repute in the United Kingdom. The output of the service was given mainly to local editors on an 'exclusive' publication basis. During the year, 351 feature articles and 174 photographs were distributed, with 136 feature articles and 101 photographs used.
3
20. Use by the local press of all types of press material is summarized as follows:
No. of Items Issued
No. of Items Used
Total No. of Acceptances By Local Newspapers
Average Use Per Item Accepted
DAILY INFORMATION BULLETIN
2,495
2,495
16,602
LONDON PRESS SERVICE
795
296
1,193
'FEASTCO' (LONDON FAR EAST SERVICE)
6.70
4.04
338
93
176
1.89
'COLCO' (LONDON COLONIAL SERVICE)
388
$1
61
1.20
RADIO NEWS AND PROGRAMMES
461
461
4,010
8.70
ARMED SERVICES RELEASES
196
196
983
5.02.
C.0.1. FEATURE ARTICLES
351
136
148
1.08
PHOTOGRAPHS
(including maps, plans and sketch drawings)
P.R.O.
C.O.I.
Armed
174
6899
189
512
2.70
101
110
1.08
Services 144
144
296
2.05
VISITS, ETC.
21. Facility visits continue to be popular with the local press, and during the year 15 were arranged, most of them requiring the provision of official transport, either by road or sea. These visits give both reporters and photographers a first-hand opportunity of seeing Government functions and operations about which there is public interest. Four press conferences were arranged during the year.
COLONY'S NEWSPAPERS
22. There were no major changes in the Colony's newspapers during the year. At the end of March 1958 there was a total or 176 news-
papers and 25 news agencies registered with the Registrar of
Newspapers.
4
LIBRARY
23. The Departmental Library continued to be used by pressmen directly and, from time to time, to answer inquiries by telephone.
24. Additions were made by purchase to the collection of reference books and others were presented by the Central Office of Information and various consulates in Hong Kong. There are now about 700 reference books in the library.
PUBLICITY SECTION
25. The Department's acknowledged weakness in facilities for the production of general publicity material-particularly visual publicity- for use both inside Hong Kong and overseas, has been somewhat alleviated by the appointment of three officers, each a specialist in his own field. The arrival of these officers has enabled a start to be made in the organized production of illustrated publicity, but since all three arrived in the closing months of the year the start must be regarded as modest.
26. The Films and Photographic Officer will, for the time being, con- centrate on the production of still photographs, and it is hoped both to build up a useful library and improve the quality of photographs- particularly technical-available for use in existing local publications such as the Monthly Trade Bulletin, the Hong Kong Annual Report, the Commerce, Industry and Finance Directory, for new publications, and, also, for overseas distribution.
27. Although he only arrived in mid-January 1958, the Production Officer has already made progress in improving the quality of artwork in Government printed publicity, (e.g. the Colony's Annual Report for 1957) whilst the Features Writer's work is filling a hitherto serious gap in the Departmental output.
DISTRIBUTION
28. On the distribution side, the Section handles both its own production and United Kingdom publicity material (posters, booklets, films, etc.) supplied by the Central Office of Information.
29. Most of the bulk material from the Central Office of Informa- tion is distributed through schools, clubs, Government Departments and social organizations.
30. Eight photo-posters and two feature posters supplied by C.O.I. were overprinted in Chinese during the year. Overprinting of these
5
posters continues to be undertaken by the Department on behalf of the Governments of North Borneo and Sarawak.
31. Plans and drawings and within the limits of existing resources publicity photographs for publication in newspapers were also produced by the section.
GOVERNMENT ADVERTISING (PRESS)
32. During the year 626 advertisements were published on behalf of all Government departments at a total cost of $162,724.
FILMS
33. During the year borrowings from the Department's 16 mm. film library increased considerably. A total of 3,088 film loans to clubs, schools and similar groups were recorded. According to reports sent back by the borrowers, these films were shown to audiences totalling 1,068,500 (as against 2,344 loans and 589,815 audience in the preceding year).
34. The advent of television to Hong Kong (in June 1957) added another valuable outlet for British official films, and the department is now supplying the Rediffusion Television network with an average of two programmes a week, one being the excellent British Television News initiated by the Central Office of Information in January 1958 and the other a straight documentary programme dealing with various aspects of the 'British way of life'.
FILM CENSORSHIP SECTION
35. Film censorship continues to be administered by the Public Relations Officer in his capacity as Secretary to both the Panel of Censors and the Films Board of Review. Appendix 'A' contains a summary of films censored.
March, 1959.
6
J. L. MURRAY, Public Relations Officer.
7
Country of Origin
FEATURE FILMS
Austria
China (Mainland)
France
...
Germany
...
APPENDIX A
FILMS CENSORED DURING THE PERIOD 1.4.57 TO 31.3.58
Hong Kong (Chinese-Cantonese)
(Chinese Mandarin)
Italy...
India...
Japan
Korea
Mexico
--
***
Philippines
United Kingdom
U.S.A.
U.S.S.R.
NEWSREELS
Hong Kong
United Kingdom U.S.A.
SHORTS
China (Mainland)
Hong Kong
India...
Japan
United Kingdoni
U.S.A.
U.S.S.R.
-
***
ADVERTISING FILMS
TELEVISION FILMS
16 mm. Film,
35 mm.
Films
*
REDIFFUSION NEWSREELS
Number censored
Passed clean
Passed with cuts
Banned
BOARD OF REVIEW
Films
Ban Submitted Confirmed
Appeal Upheld
Passcd with cuts
1
1
32
21
4
7
17
***
11
4
6
5
1
164
136
26
59
44
11
...
4
4
36
36
8
7
2
2
5
3
73
67
3
3
3
313
289
8
16
12
16
11
5
5
109
108
1
105
•
101
:.
::
51
41
6
6
17
17
7
1
1
...
196
196
2
1
140
140
| || | || 20
713
711
113
113
IT
283
273
10
| | |
~ || * ! | ~ |
ས། །
| | |
3
| | |
1
།
| | |
1
| w |
TEL
P
HONG KONG
Code No. : 3043- 58