Page 384 - Bahrain Gov annual reports(V)_Neat

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Visitors. A considerable number of visitors, particularly journalists, visited Bahrain
during 1956. The Public Relations Department made arrangements for them to visit the persons
and places they wished to see and provided them with any written material, statistics, etc., that
they required. During the year representatives of Swiss, American, French, British, Lebanese
and Iraqi newspapers visited Bahrain and were helped in this way. It is planned in 1957 to
prepare written material and photographs beforehand so that when journalists require the basic
facts on Bahrain they can be supplied with them without delay.

Occasions. During 1956 the P.R.D. helped in organising a number of civic occasions,
such as the opening of new schools, hospitals, electrical switching-on ceremonies in the villages,
etc. In each case full publicity was given to the occasion as well as to the Department con­
cerned. Use was made of the Radio and Press releases and the ceremonies were covered by
the representatives of the Bapco publications and of the press agencies. Finally, and very
important in Bahrain, the representatives of the various clubs, Government Departments,
business, etc., were always invited to the ceremonies. This focussing of public attention upon
the various public service activities of the Government will continue in 1957 and the Department
will continue to offer its services in this respect to other Departments.

Campaigns and Anticipation of Government action. It has been shown in 1956 that there
are a number of causes in Bahrain which would be considerably helped by organised campaigns,
such as road safety, encouragement of blood donors, and the modernisation of agriculture.
It is planned that in 1957 this Department, in co-operation with the Government Department
concerned, will organise such campaigns using all publicity media available, including radio,
films, posters, verbal and press publicity. The same methods will be adopted to explain to the
general public any legislation or major changes to Government policy that are planned. In the
words of the recent British Parliamentary debate on Government public relations “Public
Relations must project policy, anticipate policy and prepare ground for the enunciation of
policy.”
These, then, were the main activities in the public relations field during 1956 and plans
for 1957. All plans require staff, however, and the following are the anticipated staff for 1957.

The Radio Station. By the end of 1957 staff in the Radio Station will consist of the
following : Director of Broadcasting, Assistant Director of Broadcasting (who will act for the
Director while he attends a course at the B.B.C), Radio Engineer, two Programme Assistants,
Supervisor of Recorded and Musical Programmes, News Editor and Clerk. This staff will
allow for a sufficient degree of specialisation to enable each official to concentrate on certain
specified duties and should lead to the highest possible degree of efficiency. New employees
to be recuited in 1957 are the Assistant Director, the News Editor, one Programme Assistant,
and the Clerk.
Public Relations Department. The ideal staff for this Department, according to the
Buchan report, would be a Director, Assistant Director, Office Manager, Secretary, two
Assistant Clerks, Photographer and a part-time Writer. At present the staff of the Department
consists of the Director, Assistant Director and Secretary. It is hoped to recruit some at least
of the remaining officials during 1957.

Accommodation. In order to provide working space for the new employees and increase
activities both of the Radio Station and the Public Relations Department, certain changes must
be made in the offices. The Radio Station will be extended in order to provide three additional
offices for the staff, and a workshop for the engineer, while it is hoped that the Public Relations
Department will be able to move into more suitable offices elsewhere in Manama.