Not all leading Hong Kong news media practiced a strict separation between newsroom and owners. In the most extreme case, an owner was appointed as editor-in-chief. In some other cases, owners of media organisations gave direct instructions to newsroom editors and journalists and could potentially intervene across the full range of news sectors.
Some organisations did exercise a total separation of their newsrooms from owners, with the owners rarely visiting the newsroom or intervening in editorial matters. One online media portal is operated by a trust fund to guarantee that the board members stay out of editorial decisions.
Although Hong Kong has a free market economy, and “freedom of speech, of the press and of publication” is enshrined in article 27 of the Basic Law, a 2017 survey of journalists conducted by the HKJA and The University of Hong Kong found that 30 per cent of newsroom workers practiced self-censorship. This was consistent with the result of our interviews, in which five out of twenty interviewees confirmed that self-censorship was a common practice in their companies (HKJA, 2017).
The freedom of newsroom workers is subject to the approaches of their owners. The central government, in full realisation of how commercial interests are deeply linked to political interests, exerted indirect influence by co-opting media owners or advertising pressure.
Since Hong Kong became a part of China in 1997, the Chinese government has exerted indirect influence on Hong Kong news outlets by the co-option of media owners. A large proportion of them have significant interests linked to, and close connections with, China. A third of these news media owners have been awarded political titles or awards (see Table 2). Scholars suggest that the central government has indirect interference on the Hong Kong newsrooms via allocative control, rather than operational control (allocative control is control via allocating basic personnel and resources, while operational control refers to direct control of newsroom daily operations). Such allocative control might result in self-censorship. The most recent example of allocative control is the replacement of the retiring head of Now TV news with a former management staff member of TVB, which is recognised by many as one of the most influential pro-government media outlets. Another example is the replacement of i-CABLE Executive Director, Mr. Fung Tak Hung, with former journalists from ATV (Asia Television Limited), which is also widely recognised to be a pro-government media outlet. The replacement of the news department heads in two credible broadcast media outlets after the enactment of the new national security law has worried media scholars and critics, since these appointments are suspected to be political (Standnews, 2020).
On the one hand, a third of media owners in Hong Kong have been granted political appointment or awards. They have been appointed to the national People’s Congress and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) (HKJA, 2013; see also Table 2). On the other hand, the Chinese government also exerted pressure on media organisations by rewarding or withholding business opportunities.
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In the case of public service broadcasting, the situation appears to be more complicated. In the past, RTHK has enjoyed a high degree of editorial independence, the editor-in-chief gives only general directions to their staff, and intervention from commercial interests is prevented. RTHK, the public broadcasting service, was founded in 1928 and is sometimes compared to the BBC, as it has guaranteed editorial independence. Nevertheless, RTHK faces many challenges because of its willingness to take a critical stance against the government and the police. The board of advisors can potentially interfere with editorial independence, and the government has already been criticised for drying out RTHK by setting up a very tight budget and allocating scant resources for their productions, as a kind of political suppression. However, interviewees suggested that RTHK still maintains a high degree of editorial independence. Recently, all RTHK staff working at the Education Television Centre were asked to vacate, along with their equipment. RTHK therefore needs to find additional office space, without being provided with additional resources (Ma, 2020).
RTHK recently found itself at the centre of a political storm. The broadcaster’s guaranteed funding holds ground only for a short period, and its finances can change from one year to the next. The interviewees admitted that RTHK lacked the resources to produce news stories, and no additional human resources are being added, despite applications continuing to be filed. An RTHK reporter was arrested over a programme about a mob attack in Yuen Long. Several scholars worry that this event has had a chilling effect on investigative journalism. Leung Ka-Wing, the editor-in-chief of RTHK and an experienced journalist, departed his role prematurely. A senior civil servant took over Leung’s post. This appointment indicated the tightening of the government’s control over RTHK. Several programmes were removed during the first few months of his appointment.
Moreover, all the interviewees suggested they still try their very best to maintain journalistic professionalism, including having hot debates with their superiors and insisting on adding opposing views to their news reports. As Hong Kong is still an open market, journalists generally see themselves as an autonomous agent serving the public and monitoring the powerholders. Market concerns and professionalism are at odds, with the former acting as a counter force to compel self-censorship in the newsroom (Lee, 2018; see also Indicator E2 – Media ownership concentration regional (local) level).
Internet technology provides an opportunity to increase the diversity of the media and to counteract the control of political power and capital. However, the central government also exerts influence on online media by co-opting with media owners (see Table 3) or personal threats.
Tony Choi, one of the founders of House News, supported the Occupy Central movement publicly. He suddenly asked to close down the House News website and wrote publicly, “I am scared. I made the wrong judgment. I feel guilty”. Tony Choi and others established Stand News, another online media house. Learning from previous experience, a single legal holder does not own online media. A trustee committee owns Stand News with eight board members (Steger, 2014).
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All the interviewees admitted there was occasional collaboration with the advertising department in some news sectors, such as culture, finance, and tourism. However, they stressed that this type of article or video was always explicitly marked as sponsored, to notify the audience. Staff is rarely mixed across these departments.
