Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK), which is regarded as a thorn in the side of the pro-establishment camp, has been severely criticized by the Hong Kong government’s task force for its “weak sense of accountability” in editorial management, suggesting that it should be strengthened and that the role of the Director of Broadcasting, who is the editor-in-chief, and head-level staff should be emphasized. On the same day, the authorities also suddenly replaced the Director of Broadcasting Leung Ka-wing, whose contract will expire in six months, and replaced him by the Deputy Secretary for Home Affairs Lee Pak-chuen, who has no media experience, next month. According to media scholar Leung Lai-kuen, in the climate of Beijing‘s accelerated control of the media, the Hong Kong government has clearly turned the knife on RTHK, centralizing its power in the management to facilitate control, which is expected to further weaken the role of public broadcasting, and depoliticization is the general trend.
Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Edward Yau said when the RTHK review report was released, RTHK has been asked to develop an action plan and timetable to implement the report’s recommendations for improvement. In response to questions, he said RTHK enjoys editorial independence, but is not free from regulation. As to whether the Director of Broadcasting without media experience can convince the public, Yau said, this is not a given, there are also political officials in the past as the Director of Broadcasting.
The Deputy Director of Broadcasting of RTHK, Ms. Chan Man-kuen, who had resisted the intervention of the RTHK Board of Advisors appointed by the Hong Kong government, was pressured to resign last year, six months after the incident, and her predecessor, Mr. Leung Ka-wing, had to leave early, although he quickly interrupted the transmission of the BBC’s international channels as announced by the Chinese General Administration of Radio, Film and Television, which was said to be an allergic reaction. The Hong Kong government suddenly announced this morning (19), the appointment contract originally expired in August this year, “by mutual consent of the early termination of the contract”. Leung Ka Wing later in a letter issued to the staff described the past five and a half years in office, “turbulent”; now leaving, “favor and disgrace, no intention to stay or go”.
As for the new Director of Broadcasting, he is replaced by senior government official Li Baiquan, who has no media experience at all. Secretary for the Civil Service Nip Tak-kuen said that the Hong Kong government will continue its efforts to nurture internal talents of RTHK in order to fill senior positions through the established mechanism.
The 93-year-old RTHK, although a government department, has greater flexibility because it is a broadcaster, and has signed the RTHK Charter with the Policy Bureau to maintain its editorial independence, and most of its management has been promoted from within. RTHK in the 1970s to the BBC as a model for development, increasingly emphasizing its public broadcasting role, not subject to political and economic pressure, but under the pressure of the government and the establishment, in recent years more like a public broadcasting.
And in response to complaints set up in July last year to review the governance and management of RTHK Task Force also released a review report this morning, that RTHK “editorial management system deficiencies”, unclear division of powers and responsibilities, “weak sense of accountability”; when sensitive complaints are not reported in a timely manner. The report also pointed out that editorial decisions are mainly made by individual production unit staff, the role of the editor-in-chief and senior management is passive.
To this end, the panel recommends that RTHK strengthen editorial governance by developing a robust and transparent editorial process, clearly defining the responsibilities of each individual, “emphasizing the decision-making role of the chief editor and head-level staff”; developing a comprehensive editorial policy and detailed guidelines for all staff to follow; in addition, RTHK must also establish an advisory board appointed by the Hong Kong government “active partnership”, proactively consulting each other on editorial guidelines and complaints.
Ms. Leung Lai-kuen, a lecturer at the School of Journalism and Communication of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, told the station that the Hong Kong government itself has a weak sense of accountability, so how can it criticize RTHK on this basis? She continued that in the climate of Beijing’s accelerated control of the media, the private sector has to bow down, not to mention RTHK is a government department!
She continued, the task force recommended strengthening the role of the Director of Broadcasting and policy makers, in fact, is now delegated to the editorial director, producer and other staff autonomy back to the management, power will be more centralized, which is the usual government micro-management techniques, and subordinates more dare not act freely. It is foreseeable that RTHK will be more departmentalized in the future, the role of public broadcasting will be further weakened.
She predicted that RTHK will be “de-politicized” in the future, will not challenge the government on political matters, but there is still room for social and cultural matters, such as the introduction of cultural programs from other regions to broaden the horizons of Hong Kong people.
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