THE bespectacled man was a reporter, editor, TV anchorman, director of a news channel and deputy head of the Shanghai TV station.

　　And the woman was the deputy director of the Municipal Government Information Office for years and she gave out information during the SARS emergency.

　　Now they have both become the first spokespersons for the Shanghai Government.

　　"I don't come to this stage to hide things," said Jiang Lan, the spokesman who has been in the local media for 20 years. "I sincerely want to be friends with reporters and to provide information as fully and accurately as possible."

　　Jiao Yang, the spokeswoman, confirmed that the wealthiest man in Shanghai is being investigated for suspicious business dealings at the first press conference hosted by the pair. This was a hot topic which had not been clearly illuminated by the authorities previously.

　　Jiang said there may be a misunderstanding that the spokespersons for the Shanghai government are spokespersons for the city.

　　"We can speak for some governmental units but we can't represent them all. Some departments, such as the Shanghai Public Security Bureau, have their own spokespersons," Jiang said.

　　If some cases that are being investigated by the Public Security Bureau, the procuratorate or the courts, the new pairing are not authorized to speak, he said.

　　The two spokespersons will update the media with information about the local government's policies and measures as well as providing some hints about current news events.

　　The public and the media have sometimes complained that the authorities failed to tell them the whole story about certain issues.

　　Jiang explained that the government does not do this on purpose. Some news items were too complicated to explain to the public. In other cases the government itself had not obtained accurate information.

　　"This kind of conflict is unavoidable, as in many large companies, who often screen the information they want to announce," he said.

　　As to how much information they can provide and the fields they are free to discuss, Jiang said "authorization" would be given in advance.

　　"We may not be the right people to provide information on certain matters," he added.

　　He noted the initiative was still untested, with the government lacking experience in the procedure, while hoping to perfect it step by step.

　　Standing behind the pair was a support group, helping to provide detailed governmental information and to assist journalists find and make contact with sources in the period around the bi-weekly press conference. A hot line has been set up for all journalists.

　　Any registered local and foreign media along with those from other provinces can attend the press conferences.

　　The new initiative aims to remove some unnecessary meetings and to set up an information forum for both domestic and foreign media.

　　The Shanghai Government is not the first to appoint such spokespersons. The Nanjing government nominated its own spokespersons last May, followed by Beijing, Liaoyang in Liaoning Province, Chongqing, Henan and Guangzhou.