Public gets online press invitation

By Huang Zhiling (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-09-30 08:25

CHENGDU: Internet surfers will be able to join government press conferences like reporters, thanks to a virtual press conference hall on the Sichuan provincial government website (www.sc.gov.cn).

A snapshot of an Internet press conference room on the Sichuan provincial government website.

The hall, opened on Tuesday, has seats for the moderator, the panel and reporters. Behind the panel is a huge screen with the Chinese characters "Press Conference Hall", making it exactly like the press conference hall of the Sichuan provincial government, said Yang Jie, a reporter with the Sichuan branch of China News Service.

The screen of the online press conference hall shows detailed information and videos of recent press conferences held by the provincial government, the city and prefecture governments, as well as by provincial government departments.

The information includes the full text of each member of the panel.

"It is a positive action from the government, and I am sure people will have another channel to make suggestions about issues concerning their lives and even complain to the government," said Xie Xiaoli, a primary school teacher of Chinese in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan.

Through the online hall, reporters can even join press conferences at home. Invited reporters will be given a username and a password, and they can raise questions online just as in the real world, said Xu Yun, chief of the information technology section of the general office of the Sichuan provincial government.

Internet users will be able to see the questions and answers.

"In the future, the public will also be able to raise questions online," Xu said.

To achieve that, however, software should be designed to identify netizens participating in the online press conference, he said.

Xu said departments and bureaus under the provincial government will actively solicit topics of public concern and hold timely press conferences online for those who are interested.

Sichuan is believed to be the first Chinese province to set up such a hall on its website.

Earlier, Guizhou, Yunnan and Guangdong provinces set up press conference halls on local media websites, said Li Jiang, an information officer with the information office of the Sichuan provincial government.

After the Guiyang municipal government in Guizhou became the first government to launch an online press spokesman on Sept 1, the Beijing-based China Youth League conducted a survey showing more than 80 percent of respondents hope their home provinces follow suit.