Authorities can nip speculation in the bud with timely responses

THE BODY OF XIAO WENSUN, the mayor of Liuzhou in South China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, was recovered from the local river earlier this month. The cause of his drowning is still unknown and is under investigation. However, the local government's tardiness in revealing information has given rise to a wave of online speculation. Comments:

It will take time to find out what really led to the mayor's death, but offering a timely response to the various rumors should not have been too difficult for the local government. The local authorities' belated and unprofessional responses are, of course, a result of their inability to provide timely information to the public in an emergency and incapability of dealing with the public's questions in the Internet era.

jschina.com.cn, Nov 9