All of the interviewees admitted that their newsrooms’ decisions were not open to citizen participation. This reflected the general approach to media in Hong Kong, although news outlets did use various means to involve citizens, such as inviting letters to the editor and organising regular focus groups to provide critical comments on the performance of the news media. Interviewees indicated that they valued audience comments and regarded the audience reaction as a key success metric. As an example, one interviewee said that their organisation had begun to do more live-streaming, and that this was based on audience comments. Nevertheless, newsroom decisions are not open to citizen participation. If requested, newsrooms welcome group visits (such as school field trips). In one case, a media company operated a cafe for a year for the purpose of interacting with its audience, but the cafe had to close after it proved unsuccessful as a business model.
The interviewees also indicated that their organisations provided avenues for audience crowdsourcing for important stories. All of them said they incorporated user-generated content into their news stories, such as video and audio materials, as well as comments left on social media. They reported that they did so based on their own journalistic judgment. Their social media handles are open to Internet users’ comments on their news stories. Some news media columns also accepted articles from their audiences.
Since 1980, RTHK has organised a public forum called City Forum, which is a live broadcast programme that invites prominent political actors, professors, and scholars from different leanings to comment on current affairs. This forum also invites citizens to discuss and debate issues. Radio broadcasters also make various efforts to invite audience comments during talk-show programmes. However, a small number of leading media companies reported that they never use Internet users’ comments and materials, as they believe them to be unreliable; their employees criticise this practice as a form of self-censorship.
