Officials questioned on Wuhan TV show

of my friends from outside Wuhan,” he said. “I have a WeChat account, and although I never use it to contact my friends and relatives, I got more than 100 WeChat messages asking me about the program.”

Supported by the local government, the program is seen as a way to promote positive change in officials’ working styles and to help them understand their responsibilities.

Though speaking highly of the program, members of the public called on the local government to make questioning officials a regular practice.

“It is a good model that helps solve many problems related to people’s livelihoods,” said Zhang Zhuo, a professor of broadcast journalism at Wuhan University who participated in the program. “It is very difficult, however, for county, prefecture or provincial-level media to supervise governments that are at the same level.”

Instead of being broadcast only twice a year, the program needs to be made regular and more in-depth to help solve more problems, she said.

She added that the public expectations of the media shouldn’t be too high, because solutions to problems ultimately depend on the government.

The government should establish a long-term mechanism to help the public solve problems, said Zhou Zhe, 35, an engineering consultant.

“It’s the most popular TV program in Wuhan, and everyone around me is discussing it,” he said. “As a Wuhan resident, I surely hope it can help to make Wuhan better. I hope it will not become a program about only raising questions.”

Contact the writers at houliqiang@ chinadaily.com.cn