Who is really compromising the public's right to be well informed? Officials who hide behind a shield of anonymity? Or bureaucrats who refuse to be open and frank with us? Probably prompted by the findings of the poll conducted by the Hong Kong Journalists Association, a renewed interest in the openness of the Government and access of information seems to have generated more debates on the subject in both the Government and the media.
Superficially, the public can hold the Government responsible for depriving them of their right to know. But, ironically, the media cannot escape the blame either - a worrying trend is quietly appearing which may well undermine the media's role as a credible news-provider.
Veteran journalists and media observers have detected that increasingly, political or social gossip has been replacing serious news.
Unconfirmed reports have been accorded prominent positions in news pages and unidentified sources are used more indiscriminately.
You may say that practices like these, the use of unidentified sources and the publication of unconfirmed reports, have existed for a long time. But the danger now is the much wider application of the practice - it seems to have replaced serious journalism in the mainstream of the industry.
Many examples of these kinds of unprofessional reporting can be found. From details of the intense bickering between Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa and the senior civil service to the reshuffle of senior positions in the SAR Government, all sorts of gossipy suggestions have dominated the news pages of many local dailies.