Judging from the reaction of mainland officials to media queries about whether Major-General Zhou Borong tried to cross the border without a closed-road permit on May 27, people could easily get the impression the media have been unfair to General Zhou.
But if they look back at the sequence of events they are more likely to agree the media have only been fulfilling their role as a watchdog over government.
Immediately after the border incident, news of the dispute between the PLA General and Customs officials spread through the junior ranks of the Customs and Excise Department.
Before the South China Morning Post reported the dispute, other media are believed to have received anonymous calls from disgruntled Customs staff about what happened.
But, as expected, officials were economical with the truth and suggested they had not heard of the incident. This outright denial did not stop journalists and Customs staff from pursuing the matter. Frustrated Customs staff voiced their grievance through a more effective channel, a popular Radio Television Hong Kong phone-in programme.
Only after the programme revealed the contents of a fax sent by an anonymous Customs official did other media follow up the story and legislators express their concern: hence last Friday's special Legislative Council security panel meeting where more details emerged.
From the Legco briefing, it is apparent the incident was not a minor one, as some mainland officials have suggested.