<P> According to Anne - Marie Brady, the Foreign Ministry first set up a system of designated officials to give information in times of crisis in 1983, and greatly expanded the system to lower levels in the mid-1990s . China's spin had been directed only at foreigners, but in the 1990s leaders realised that managing public crises was useful for domestic politics; this included setting up provincial level "News Coordinator Groups," and inviting foreign PR firms to give seminars . </P> <P> Brady writes that Chinese foreign propaganda officials took cues from the Blair government's spin doctoring during the mad cow disease crisis of 2000--2001, and the Bush government's use of the U.S. media after the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 . According to her, the Blair model allows for a certain amount of negative coverage to be shown during a crisis, which is believed to help release some of the "social tension" surrounding it . She believes information managers in China used this approach during coal mining disasters of 2005 . </P> <P> According to Brady, trained official spokespeople are now available on call in every central government ministry, as well as in local governments, to deal with emerging crises; these spin doctors are coordinated and trained by the Office of Foreign Propaganda / State Council Information Office . </P> <P> During the July 2009 Ürümqi riots, Communist Party officials moved swiftly in a public relations campaign . According to Newsweek, Party officials felt that the recent riots risked tarnishing China's global image, and underwent a public relations program involving quickly getting out the government's official version of the events, as well as transporting foreign journalists to riot affected areas . The growth in new technologies, such as email and SMS, forced the CCP's hand into taking up spin . </P>

After world war i propaganda films lost favor in europe and were not used again until 1970