On Friday's Focus Report, China Central Television (CCTV) exposed several public servants of the Public Security Bureau of Wuyi county, North China's Hebei Province of creating excessive difficulties for a young man who applied for a passport.

The young man worked in Beijing but had to go back to Wuyi to file the application because his permanent residency, also known as hukou, is registered in his hometown. The process was full of obstacles.

In total, the young man went back and forth six times between Beijing and his hometown to prepare the documentation. Every time he stepped into the office, he was demanded to present other files he had not been asked to bring the previous time. The application took him half a year and made him travel about 3,000 kilometers altogether. In fact, most of the documentation submitted proved unnecessary.

He was also treated coldly by the staff according to an undercover video. The man complained about his misfortune, saying that in small towns, local authorities always like "fooling and playing the citizens around."

The TV show seems to have been a slap in the face for local authorities. Hebei public security bureau set up a special investigation team a minute after the program had been aired. The municipal Communist Party secretary and mayor of Hengshui, a prefecture-level city that administers Wuyi, hurried to the site "that very night," according to a press release issued by the local government.

Like a flash in the sky, staff involved were suspended from their duties, and their superiors were also given different kinds of warnings the next day.

Cheers were heard very soon praising the efficiency and problem-solving ability of the senior authorities. But more doubts and concerns have emerged: Without media intervention, how many more citizens will continue to suffer the same poor experience dealing with government agencies?

Pinning hopes on the Internet and the media to supervise local governments seems unwise. It should be noted that exposures via media or the Internet only account for the tip of the iceberg. The priority should be how to nip this malfeasance in the bud before it becomes universally known and outrageous.

An accountability mechanism for public servants, run under the rule of law in a comprehensive, efficient and transparent manner, is what's really needed.

Officials found guilty of malpractice shouldn't be punished only when the media or senior officials intervene. Let the supervision system step up to the plate and public trust engendered.