Media representatives will be required to obtain official confirmation from the police regarding their eligibility and right to cover future demonstrations in Hong Kong. The Hong Kong police announced publicly on Tuesday that they will revise the definition of “media representative” to require media representatives to be either registered with the Government Information Services or with an internationally recognized and recognized non-local news organization. At this time, it is unclear whether the reporting rights of the Voice of America (VOA) in Hong Kong will be affected.
Chief Superintendent of Police Public Relations Branch, Ambrose Kwok, sent a letter to the four media unions, stating that in order to assist frontline officers in their duties, the police will revise the definition of “media representative” under the Police General Orders to include journalists who hold identification documents issued by two types of organizations. Photographers and television crews, these two categories include: media organizations registered with the Government News Service’s News Distribution System (GNMIS), and internationally recognized and well-known non-local news agencies, newspapers, magazines, radio and television broadcasters. This means that media holding membership cards of the Hong Kong Journalists Association or the Hong Kong Press Photographers Association will no longer be recognized.
At present, “representatives of the media” under Chapter 39 of the PGO covers journalists, photographers and television crews who hold three types of credentials: those from newspapers, news agencies, television and radio stations, or those who are members of the Hong Kong Journalists Association or the Hong Kong Institute of Photojournalists.
As for foreign news organizations, according to the Police Public Relations Branch, journalists, photographers and staff who hold identification documents issued by internationally recognized and well-known non-local news agencies, newspapers, magazines, radio and television broadcasters also meet the definition of “media representative”. However, the letter is silent on what is meant by “internationally recognized and recognized” and whether the Voice of America is included.
The Information Services Department (ISD) also states that it has the authority to review the registration status of media organizations in a number of circumstances, including when the representatives of the media organizations concerned conduct non-interview activities at government venues, engage in misconduct, fail to follow instructions from government officials, or when the media organizations concerned are no longer legally registered, are no longer considered mass media outlets, or have ceased operations.
The new police measures are widely seen as a deliberate attempt to target student media and online media. The student media and online media have been at the forefront of demonstrations, large and small, since the beginning of the campaign last year, and it is not the traditional media, but rather the student media and online media that have been at the forefront of reporting on the demonstrations, regardless of their size.
The police have overstepped their original law enforcement mandate by creating a licensing system for the official press, which is tantamount to creating an official press licensing system that “deep-continentalizes Hong Kong,” and further undermines press freedom, freedom of the press and Hong Kong people’s right to know, according to former journalist and Legislative Council member Mao Mengjing.
Ms. Mao believes that this practice has definitely undermined the confidence of the local and international community in Hong Kong’s “one country, two systems”, and urges the Lam Cheng government to think twice.
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