Media in Hong Kong is available to the public conveniently in various forms, namely: television and radio channels, newspapers, magazines and the World Wide Web. They serve the local community by providing necessary information and entertainment.
In Hong Kong, the mass media is an indispensable part of people's lives. Not only does it affect the way people think and act, it also plays an active role in the economic and cultural domains of the society, shaping the economy and cultural values of the people. The mass media is also a kind of business. Just like other commercial utilities, mass media produce infotainment and sell it to the buyers (targeted audience) for profit.
Mass media in Hong Kong can be classified according to their nature into 3 categories:
Freedom of the press and publication are enshrined in Art. 27 of the Basic Law, Hong Kong's mini-constitution, and are also protected by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) under Art. 39 of the Basic Law.
There is no law called "media law" in Hong Kong. Instead, the media is governed by a bunch of statutory laws. In brief, there are 31 Ordinances that are directly related to mass media, 7 of which are more important. They includes Registration of Local Newspapers Ordinance (Cap. 286), Books Registration Ordinance (Cap. 142), Telecommunications Ordinance (Cap. 106), Control of Obscene and Indecent Articles Ordinance (Cap. 390) Broadcasting Authority Ordinance (Cap. 391) and Broadcasting Ordinance (Cap. 562).
The passing of Bill of Rights Ordinance(BORO) in 1986 strengthened the protection of fundamental human rights like press freedom, freedom of speech, etc. This has been reflected in the loosening of control over mass media. Laws that violate the principle of press freedom are gradually amended. (For example, s.27 of Public Order Ordinance, which criminalized publishing of false news, was repealed in 1989)
Nonetheless, there are still concerns among the media sectors that laws some existing laws may still undermine the freedom of the press and publication, e.g. Official Secrets Ordinance (Cap. 521) and Public Order Ordinance (Cap. 245). On the other hand, the HKSAR Government considers that such laws do not violate the BORO and the constitutionally protected rights under the Basic Law.
In 1999, a survey on the mass media ethics was conducted by four journalists' groups (Hong Kong Journalists Association , Hong Kong News Executives' Association , Hong Kong Federation of Journalists , Hong Kong Press Photographers' Association ). They could not deny the fact that the mass media were suffering decreasing respect of Hong Kong citizens. Journalism was no longer seen as a respectable profession. The Public had little trust in newspapers. The news industry attributed this phenomenon to Hong Kong citizens' complaints about the decreasing ethics of journalists. This survey has revealed the problems that mass media industry is now facing.
Over 75% people were not satisfied with journalists' ethical behavior. 81% agreed that the journalists had injected too much violence and pornography into news reporting. 66% stated that there was a lack of accuracy in reporting. Stories were exaggerated and contorted to cater for the readers' taste. And 62% thought that journalists did not respect individual privacy. The victims were usually the super stars and celebrities.
However, Hong Kong people still had much concern about press freedom. In 2000, the 'United State Policy Act Report' pointed out that Hong Kong media still remained free and robust after reunification with China in 1997. Mass media had the absolute freedom to report and comment and criticise every event that happened in Hong Kong,Taiwan, Mainland China and other regions around the world. The majority did agree that the supervisory duty should not rely on the government. Over 60% support the proposal that a non-governmental organisation, composed by group of professional journalist should be set up for strict and close supervision. In view of this request of the public, Hong Kong Press Council, an independent organization, was founded in 2000 to promote the ethical stands of the newspaper industry, to fight for press freedom and to deal with public complaints.
On Octoer 19, 1998, a woman, together with her 2 children, jumped out of the window and died. By the investigation of the reporters, people found out Mr. Chan Kin Hong, the husband of the woman. It was alleged that that woman killed herself because her husband had another wife in Mainland China. Chan than becomes the headlines of major newspapers and TV channels. A negative image was created for Chan in the reports. Apple Daily even posted a picture in which Chan held 2 women, whom were said to be prostitutes, in his arms. Public resentment against Chan reached its peak. But later it was discovered that Apple Daily had paid Chan HK$5000 for the story. This attracted a fierce criticism from other media, academics and the public. Finally, Apple Daily posted a whole-page notice of apology on the front page of the paper on Novovember 10.
On April Fools' Day in 2003, a 14-year-old pupil copied the design of the Ming Pao Web site to his own, wherein he announced that Hong Kong had been declared an infected port, Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa had stepped down and that the Hang Seng Index had plunged. Rumour had it that Hong Kong would be quarantined and cut off from supplies, which immediately sparked panic buying at supermarkets and prompted the government to issue an official denial in an emergency briefing and through SMS messages to mobile phone users. Newspapers overwhelmingly condemned the spread of misinformation in times of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) crisis. Ming Pao in particular demanded the punishment of the spread of false news in the public interest. This raised a discussion on the choice between freedom of speech and the public interest. The rumor spreader has subsequently been arrested.
The legislation to implement Article 23 of the Basic Law, which concerns the prohibition of crimes against national security, has been one of the most controversial issues since the reunification of Hong Kong with Mainland China in 1997. Among the laws proposed to implement Article 23, the media were most concerned about the offences of handling seditious publications and unlawful disclosure of official secrets. There are worries among the media sector, as well as the legal and human rights groups, that the amendments would endanger the freedom of the press in Hong Kong.
In particular, the media sector had argued strongly for a "public interest defence" under the Official Secrets Ordinance (Cap. 521), the secrecy law of Hong Kong inherited from the United Kingdom, but the Government considered the defence not necessary and refused to add the defence. After a huge protest of up to 500,000 people in Hong Kong on July 1, 2003 to voice dissatisfaction against the legislation and the Government, the defence was finally accepted by the Government. Nevertheless, in a few days, the Government was forced to postpone the second and third readings of the Bill due to the resignation of Mr James Tien, Chairman of Liberal Party, from the Executive Council. Finally, on September 5, 2003, the Government announced withdrawal of the Bill.
Some naked photo of a famous actress is distributed in East Magazine, and in Three Weekly a week later. The photos were claimed to be taken in early 90's when that actress was kidnapped. Though people from all social strata have shouted themselves hoarse to call on citizens to boycott vile publications, many buy and read them while condemning them for corrupting public morals. Such inconsistent behaviour has led to a deplorable situation. However despicably they may behave, people investing in or working for vile publications can make money. They therefore persist in such despicable behaviour. That is substantiated by the fact that those issues of East Magazine and Three Weekly have sold very well. Media ethics is raised as a hot topic. As the public pressure on East Magazine grows, East Magazine finally closed down.
TV:
Introduction
Legislation on the media industry
The rest of the 31 Ordinances are of less importance since they do not aim at regulating mass media, but some of their provisions do affect the operation of media organizations and also the freedom of the press.Authorities enforcing relevant policies
Characteristic of Hong Kong's Mass Media
Challenges faced by Media
Incidents with Impact
"Mr Chan Kin Hong (陳健康) Incident"
Spreading of false news during SARS period
Basic Law Article 23 Legislation
Naked famous actress photo
Overview
(by the end of year 2002)Media Institutes
Public space media
Media organizations
See also