What they say about government spokespeople

Brice Pedroletti

China correspondent for French newspaper Le Monde, based in Beijing

Regarding the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, I can see they are making an effort and it is great to have daily news briefings because China is in global news reports every day. We need to know the stance of the Chinese government and I use answers from media briefings. Their job is to maintain China's image, and I think the spokespeople are doing as much as they can.

In quite a few instances, you can guess what they will say and there are few surprises at the briefings. The spokespeople are always diplomatic, which is the same everywhere.

What would help more than media briefings would be to encourage government departments, both nationally and locally, to speak to the foreign press. In China it's extremely difficult to arrange interviews with officials or bureaucrats in most public administrations or organizations. They are reluctant to talk to the foreign media and don't want to take the risk of being punished for saying something wrong. The foreign media is still widely demonized in China.

It's a pity, because in most cases, communicating is better than not communicating, and stories by foreign reporters could be more balanced if we had the official point of view on various matters, rather than simply reading about it in the official press.

The system puts extra pressure on the spokespeople, because they are left as the only officials we can interact with.

Peter Ford

Beijing Bureau Chief, The Christian Science Monitor

That the Ministry of Foreign Affairs now holds a daily media briefing and an increasing number of ministries have spokespeople is a great improvement.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the most open, but its spokespeople are not given sufficient freedom to explain government policy.

It seems that the rules require them to stick very closely to prepared statements, which are not always very informative.

More ministries have spokespersons' offices than five years ago. But in practice, I don't think the government has become more open, at least that's my experience.

Often, spokespersons' offices ask me to submit my questions by fax. I do so, but they either never respond or get back to me several days later. I work for a newspaper, so I can't wait for days at a time.

Sometimes, the spokespeople don't have the answers to a lot of the questions posed. That's understandable, but in most other countries, if the spokespeople can't answer a question, they will go through the administration to find somebody that can answer technical questions. That doesn't often happen here.

John Bailey

Beijing Bureau Chief, eNews Channel Africa

I think the spokespeople at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are doing a good job. They know the subject matter quite well.

But obtaining follow-up information is always a bit of challenge. Sometimes you have to wait a while for the latest update on a story, and that's frustrating for reporters.

The spokespeople have their limitations; how much they know and how much they can reveal. But they are always accommodating and try to be as helpful as possible.

I've contacted ministries such as commerce, education and health, but it takes a long time to get a response. Sometimes it can take a week or 10 days. When I was working to a deadline, I would go to academicians, who are always more forthcoming.

Last year, I wanted to do a story on China's fight against malaria in Africa, because I think it's a good indicator of China's soft power. However, the Ministry of Health asked us to interview a company involved in the program and they had nothing to say.

Sometimes, the spokespeople will send me the facts of a story (instead of putting someone up for interview), but I work for TV and I can't put a quote on screen. It's always harder to work for TV rather than written media because you have to get somebody in front of the camera.