Government Information Office (GIO) Minister Pasuya Yao (
The 15 members of the "task force" are all senior officials, and their main task for the day is to write letters relating to pressing issues of the moment -- before they are reviewed and authorized by their superior officials at the GIO and sent to media outlets.
The task-force members are not required to use their real names but real names are apparently also welcomed.
GIO officials said the "task force" was established last week after Premier Frank Hsieh (
Yao then instructed GIO staff to promote the premier's policies.
But it seems that the new idea has not worked out very well, because most of the letters are not being published.
Officials said that in the initial plan, the 15 staff were to take turns writing one letter a day to be mailed to newspapers. However, Yao later asked all of them to write at least one letter a day so that there would be at least 15 letters to be submitted and potentially published the next morning.
"It is the GIO's natural job to speak out for the government. I was a reporter, so I know that not all of the information provided by the government will make it into the newspapers," Yao said.
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