Construction workers walk at a construction site in Beijing. [newsphoto]

There is a widely spread rumour that economical housing will be cancelled and the cost to apply for the job of a civil servant is 26,000 yuan (US$3,210). The ministries of construction and personnel refuted rumours respectively last week. Economical housing will not be cancelled and the average cost to apply for the job of civil servant is only 200 yuan (US$25).

The rumour about cancellation of economical housing first appeared last year and more related reports came out in influential media just recently.

A college girl gives a phone call to her parents at a job fair in Nanjing, East China's Jiangsu Province, in this December 2005 file photo. [newsphoto]

The sky-rocketing cost of applying for the job of a civil servant was calculated on some extreme cases and included expenses for accommodation, clothing, etc, that should not be added in here.

Such untrue reports have aroused much public indignation. Some take actions such as giving up the idea of applying for government jobs or stop the decision-making procedures on economical housing construction. Why did it take so long for the authorities to refute such rumours? What negative results have been produced before they were cleared up?

The rights to know, to participate and to enjoy the benefits of free flow of information are greatly influencing the public. In the modern society when mass communication is fairly developed, the spreading speed of untruthful information can be quite fast and the impact may be huge. The authorities should take the shortest time to refute rumours to minimize the possible negative impact. The slower the government responds, the more harm the rumours will bring about.

Lessons should be learned from the past cases such as the SARS crisis. The price is just too high if the government were late to refute rumours.

(China Daily 08/14/2006 page4)

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