Government officials in Ningguo, Anhui Province recently paid a courtesy visit to a 103-year-old woman at a nursing home. The event obviously needed publicity.

But their presence under flash bulbs wasn't welcoming enough. Online ridicule soon started to pour in because in a photograph that was posted on the government website, the elderly woman appeared disproportionately tiny by the side of four middle-aged smiling men who looked like giants.

The picture proved to have been manipulated.

Recent years have witnessed quite a few such manipulations. The most famous one is perhaps a photograph that was exposed in 2011. This picture was that of three officials in Huili county in Sichuan Province, inspecting a newly completed road, but the image appeared to show them levitating over the tarmac.

An entry titled "photos with government officials levitating" was even created in Baidu Baike, the Chinese equivalent of Wikipedia because more such picture manipulations surfaced. These clumsy pictures are not just fodder for laughter but local governments tend to lose credibility over them.

You may blame people who manipulate these images for their poor computer software skills but officials have an outdated attitude toward government publicity.

After decades of reform, social transformation has brought both growth and problems to this country. Mass incidents triggered by many causes, such as forced demolition and environmental pollution, are increasing.

These conflicts are worsened because of inefficient communication between local governments and the people.

More often than not, local governments are found doing shoddy jobs in promoting policies and plans for citizens. With more suspicion and concern creeping in, contradictions are bound to sharpen and spill over.

Besides, local officials are seldom aware that tactful publicity and PR are crucial to the image of the government. Since the birth of the Internet, the government is no longer a closed institution. Officials now live in the daily spotlight of public opinion.

It is time for local governments to realize that they need give sufficient consideration to people's needs instead of ignoring them.

Their publicity techniques cannot be simply limited to making news announcements or through dispensable photographs.

Managing government needs skills and tactics, and Chinese local governments are way below average in terms of PR and publicity. What they need is probably a remedial lesson on the subjects.