Unsupported Criticism Of Work “Damaging”
One form of criticism which was both hurtful and damaging was the frequently repeated but never supported suggestion that State servants displayed less than average energy, said the annual report of the Commissioner of Works (Mr P. L. Laing) in the Ministry of Works Statement tabled in Parliament.
This suggestion, continued Mr Laing, “does nothing to impress the lazy and a great deal to discourage the hardworking.”
He made these observations in the public relations section of his report. In this, he said that press, radio and television had provided fair and factual coverage of information, ventilated controversial issues as they should do, and had offered valuable editorial opinion, both favourable and unfavourable, from time to time.
Mr Laing said he had been
impressed by the objective way in which Ministry of Works staff examined press criticism, seeking to understand it and to learn from it.
The main plank in the public relations programme was that good work produced its own public relations. Tidiness, conservation, restoration, landscaping of works and minimum inconvenience had been emphasised in all instructions to staff. Efforts had been made to publicise, in moderation, the men, organisation and work of the department in the belief that the public should be interested in the work of its employees and in the products of the taxes it paid. Brochures, photographic displays, models and slide programmes had been prepared to illustrate major works and could be viewed at the information centres of the electricity projects. More than 365,000 persons visited these centres in the 1965-6 year.
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Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31110, 13 July 1966, Page 6
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262Unsupported Criticism Of Work “Damaging” Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31110, 13 July 1966, Page 6
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