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Forum panelists speak of challenges
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YANG Yujun (Spokesman for the Ministry of Defense): Spokespersons today often confront hot-button issues. In the era of new media, tactics like “keeping quite” and “say-less-do-more” simply will not work. Waiting passively for hot-button issues to run their course can be counterproductive. Thus powerful and effective guidance of public opinion demands that spokespersons should meet challenges head-on, responding promptly in light of the principle that “hot-button issues deserve heat treatment.”
Zhao Chenxin (Spokesman for the National Development and Reform Commission): In the failure of effective communication, the messages that are sent become invalid. Hence the importance of creating media channels and managing media relations so as to get the message across. But communication does not guarantee effective reception.
Effective communication entails careful planning, smooth media communication channels, exploration of innovative means and methods, and assessment of the results.
Spokespersons are a system rather than just individuals. Playing a key role in this system, a spokesperson should be a good story-teller while also acting as an organizer and coordinator in the story-telling process. It is important to speak in a way that effectively influences the audience.
Li Zhong (Spokesperson for the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security): A basic prerequisite for telling a good story and reaching the audience more effectively is to first handle related work properly. Since any news release relating to people’s welfare is closely related to the immediate interests of the people, thus, in the absence of substantial policies informed by concern for the people’s interests, any news release would be “water without a source, or a tree without roots.”
Xu Wei (Spokesperson for Shanghai Government): In line with the central government mandate that “power be exercised in sunlight,” with the reiteration of the people’s right to be informed, to participate, to express their views, and to supervise, openness is the norm, rather than exception. The government of Shanghai is striving in this direction, though it is still difficult to meet all these objectives. This takes a lot of communication as we try to explain ourselves.
In the case of new media, communication can be time-consuming and expensive, thus mere self-awareness is not enough. In recent years, a host of circulars from the central government regarding government information disclosures were meant to improve officials’ capacity to communicate with the people. I suggest that more senior officials, particularly provincial level officials, should receive professional training so as to promote their awareness of and capacity for communicating with the people.
Lu Dapeng (Spokesman for China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec)): Negative reports about the company had been declining steadily over the past five years, and this is inextricably linked with its institution of a spokesperson system. In 2012, among the roughly 5.5 million news items released that year about the company, about 42.6 percent were negative. Last year, this fell to 8.7 percent. Over the past five years, in addition to sponsoring over 30 press conferences, Sinopec also holds a routine monthly meeting with the press, where experts within the sector (many of them academicians) are invited to give lectures to reporters. This has become immensely popular with editors and reporters. Now the company is actively promoting the spokesperson system for its overseas businesses, for today a third of Sinopec business and assets are overseas. In 2015, Siopec’s overseas spokespersons numbered 50.
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