The media-friendly events were sponsored by a host of activist groups.

My comments:

Media-friendly?

That's about cosying up to the media – TV, radio, newspapers and the Internet.

Media-friendly events are therefore events aimed at smoothing relations with the media, so that they stop write nasty things about the activist groups and, in fact, begin to write nice things about them.

In other words, PR - public relations. Normally, PR is about hiring PR firms to help improve one's relation with the public. This time, the said activist groups are doing the PR work by themselves, treating journalists to meetings, complete with dinners and perhaps sight-seeing in order to improve relations with the media itself.

Obviously, even activist groups need to do a lot of PR today, which essentially involves spinning tales to make one look better. It’s a reflection on the time we are living in.

Related stories:

Big mind

Blanket statement

Making knee-jerk changes is not in our DNA

Pick one's brains

A good eye

Thank one's stars for

Real money

Nodding acquaintance

Flip out over nothing

Bury the hatchet& have an ax to grind

Vocal proponent

Growing pains

Fleeting acquaintance

All-weather friend

Lead the pack

Fish or cut bait

Gilt-edged

To do more with less

Right down the middle

Take my word for it

40-sometimes

Last but not the least

Call it a dog

Pull my leg

Ego bath

Tough call

Rain check

Upper reaches

Off the shoulders

Off and running

Gold dust

Frugality fatigue

Red flag

Foregone conclusion

Call balls and strikes

Go to Zhang Xin's column

本文僅代表作者本人觀點，與本網立場無關。歡迎大家討論學術問題，尊重他人，禁止人身攻擊和發布一切違反國家現行法律法規的內容。

About the author:

Zhang Xin（張欣） has been with China Daily since 1988, when he graduated from Beijing Foreign Studies University. Write him at: zhangxin@chinadaily.com.cn, or raise a question for potential use in a future column.