bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Stella Lee

Journalists' associations agreed yesterday to work together to raise press ethical standards.

 They issued a joint declaration opposing the Law Reform Commission's proposal to set up a government-appointed press council to punish newspapers that invade people's privacy.

 The Hong Kong Journalists' Association, Hong Kong News Executives' Association, Hong Kong Federation of Journalists and Hong Kong Press Photographers' Association made the declaration at a media ethics forum yesterday.

 Under the commission's proposal, the press council would be given powers to reprimand and fine newspapers up to $1 million for breaching the privacy code.

 The journalists' statement said such a council would severely limit press freedom and could undermine the public's right to know.

 Director of Chinese University's School of Journalism and Communication, Paul Lee Siu-nam, was concerned the council's jurisdiction could be extended too far.

 'It would become the culture police. This is very dangerous,' he said.

 But the groups admitted media self-discipline was unsatisfactory.

 Journalists' Association chairwoman Mak Yin-ting said: 'The ethical problem in the press has deteriorated rapidly over the past one to two years.'  The four groups agreed to set up a joint working group on press ethics to study ways of raising ethical standards and to consult with journalists and the public about self-regulation.



Journalists vow to lift ethics of media industry