From The China Daily:
Government officials are being urged to fully cooperate with foreign journalists, who are flooding in to quench the thirst for information on China with the Beijing Olympics round the corner.
Compared to the longstanding practice of “managing the media”, governments at various levels are preparing to serve, instead of shying away from, journalists, following a new regulation which took effect on Monday.
The message was delivered by Wang Guoqing, vice-minister of the State Council Information Office, the chief information office of the Chinese Cabinet.
“In the relationship between government and the media, we are promoting a shift from managing the press to serving it, treating reporters as ‘clients’,” Wang said.
From this year, government information offices throughout the country are implementing a reporters’ assistance project, designed to help international media by compiling information about the people and places they may want to cover, and providing logistics services, he said.
The idea is to have each region come up with a general handbook for overseas reporters and produce special pamphlets for any projects that are of interest to journalists, he said. [Full Text]
