Indicators: Equality / Interest mediation

Hong Kong – (E10) Rules and practices on internal pluralism

Some Hong Kong newsrooms, including public service broadcasting stations, have codified rules on internal pluralism, but they do not necessarily follow the rules. A large majority of leading newsrooms are making efforts to extend the range of voices represented by the media. However, a third of respondents suggested that their companies engaged in self-censorship and did not give experts from all sides equal chances to present their case.

Hong Kong – (E9) Participation

Hong Kong newsrooms are not open to participation by the general public. Audience participation in the newsroom is very limited.

Hong Kong – (E5) Affordable public and private news media

Newspapers, online news outlets, and television broadcast news can be accessed at low prices in relation to the average monthly income. In fact, most media outlets’ news content is freely available online, and Hong Kong has very high Internet and mobile phone penetration rates.

Hong Kong – (E4) Minority/Alternative media

Minority ethnicities are generally under-represented and negatively portrayed in Hong Kong. The sole public service broadcaster has worked on programmes for the purposes of cultural diversity and produced programmes for ethnic minorities. The rise of the Internet provides an opportunity for ethnic media and for platforms on which minorities can interact.

Hong Kong – (E3) Diversity of news formats

Hong Kong has a large variety of different news formats covering different regions of focus, including local news, Chinese and Asian news, and world news, as well as all news sectors, such as politics, finance, culture, entertainment, and sports. With regard to news formats, other than traditional long-form and feature stories, many new media formats are now emerging in what is becoming a small and competitive market. These include animated news, virtual-reality news, and live-streamed news broadcasting.

Hong Kong – (E2) Media ownership concentration regional (local) level

The Hong Kong government has a restrictive licensing policy that results in a broadcasting oligopoly in Hong Kong. TVB has long held a virtual monopoly on the free-television market. Across all media organisations, there is no major concentration of ownership under a single giant media conglomerate. However, there is another form of ownership concentration, that of a small number of businessmen with vested interests in mainland China. They have operated across the news media with the same political and economic constraints, although the situation is currently in the process of being challenged by the rise of online and alternative media.