As the first county in Anhui Province to promote the spokesperson system among its townships, Changfeng County is a rarity.

Xu Shengbin said that the spokesperson system is, to some extent, a government response to public calls for transparency. But more significantly, he noted, it is also a breakthrough in the government's model of administration.

Xu said that these days some officials were reluctant to face the media and not adept at handling publicity. When things happen, good or bad, they often resort to buck-passing and obfuscating the facts. This damages the government's credibility. Especially in the case of breaking news, lack of effective media liaison creates suspicion of the government and harms its image. In most cases, all that was needed was better communication. The press spokesperson system is thus incredibly important. It is a bridge that connects the government, media and the public to ensure information is shared accurately and in a timely fashion.

Chen Yan, director of the Changfeng County Information Office and a press spokesperson herself, told China Today her office had compiled a booklet of the county's spokespersons' names, work units, titles and telephone numbers. The booklet is available to the public, and if an accredited reporter proposes an interview, the spokesperson is obliged to accept.

Getting the Facts Straight

Zhu Yingchun, press spokesman for the Duji Township government, has a lot to say about the role of media liaisons in dealing with breaking incidents. In the age of the Internet, he says, dissemination of authoritative information is even more crucial. The Internet is good at spreading information, but if that information proves to be incorrect, the effects are harmful.

Zhu gives one example of how press spokespersons are of use in safeguarding the integrity of information. On January 8, 2011, an explosion occurred in a roadside shop in the Peihe neighborhood of Duji Township, causing two deaths and one injury. One media agency learned of the accident through police hotline 110 (China's 911), and contacted Zhu Yingchun by looking him up in the spokespersons' booklet mentioned above.

"On receiving that phone call, I immediately headed to the scene to gather firsthand information about the accident, including casualties and developments in the police investigation. Soon, we were ready to brief reporters on all the relevant information — this streamlined the reporting process and ensured accuracy of information," Zhu said.

After the press conference, more media organizations began to focus on the incident. On the following day, the township government organized several work groups on the accident and kept track of any updates. Every afternoon for the next few days Zhu released new information to the public. It turned out that a man carrying a self-made explosive was the cause of the accident. The explosive was accidentally triggered, killing himself and an unfortunate bystander. Owing to continuous information disclosure, no mass panic was caused, and the mood of the townsfolk went back to normal.

In June 2011, three pupils in Changfeng County drowned while swimming in a pool after class. Although every summer the school authorities would sign a contract with pupils' parents urging them to guarantee pupils would never go swimming after class without parental supervision, the parents of the deceased children still blamed the school and protested in front of the township government. At the time, the press spokesperson system had just been introduced, so the spokesperson for the township government took charge of dealing with the media over the incident and ensured reporters access to all information on the case. The public fuss soon subsided and the matter was settled peacefully.

In 2008, a student accidentally fell from a multi-story school building in Changfeng County. Many reporters rushed to the scene to cover the story while the police were still investigating the case. The school had no spokesman and didn't know how to cope with the media attention, and closed its doors to them. Reporters resented the lockout and resorted to interviewing parents and students about the incident, most of whom relayed hearsay. Subsequent media reports were inaccurate as a result. When the report of police investigation was eventually released it was already too late to avoid the media fallout and drop in public trust of local educational department.

A Tough Job

Zhu Yingchun is the only press spokesman for the Duji Township government. Recalling his first press conference, Zhu sighs with emotion: "Sure, ours is a small town, but it's not easy to be a press spokesman."

On August 24 last year, Duji Township held its first press conference, titled: "Emphasizing education and focusing on people's livelihoods." The press conference was planned to last for 40 minutes but went on for almost two hours. When it finally ended, Zhu was exhausted, both physically and mentally.

"I was really nervous – it was my first time as a press spokesperson. I hadn't received any professional training and I wasn't sure how to deal with domestic, let alone foreign, media. I was caught unprepared by reporters' questions, some of which were unrelated to the conference topic," Zhu said.

After that first press conference, Zhu realized he needed to hone his press skills. In an effort to improve his standard Mandarin, daily one-hour reading and half-hour news watching ensued. As a press spokesperson for township government, Zhu is expected to be proficient on a broad range of media topics, such as agriculture, tourism, education and ecology.

"But in addition to dealing with media, we also collect information from various departments and survey public opinion online. It's a lot of work, " said Kuai Wenhua, press spokeswoman and vice director of the Changfeng County Health Bureau. Kuai said she had been feeling the pressure since she took on her press role.

"I'm just happy to be able to help my town," said Zhu. "I get to learn about topics I would have never encountered before and I've made many friends in the media." There doesn't need to be an antagonistic relationship between the government and the media. But often when left to their own devices, both sides become suspicious and distrusting of each other. Press spokespersons have an incredibly important role to play. They are part-government; part-media, and all about helping the people get accurate news as quickly as possible.