RTHK employees to be excluded from proposed board of advisers

RTHK staff will be excluded from a proposed advisory board for the government-owned broadcaster because the board will not get involved in routine administration and staff matters, a senior official said.

Rita Lau Ng Wai-lan, the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, also insisted that RTHK would preserve its editorial independence with the new charter.

'The board, focusing on editorial principles, will act like a mirror to RTHK's performance,' Lau told legislators. 'Appointing staff representatives to the board could be like inviting it to involve in daily operations and staffing matters.'

Lau was speaking at a meeting of the Legislative Council information technology and broadcasting panel at which the proposal drew strong criticism from pan-democratic lawmakers. The panel may hold a public hearing on the proposal next month.

RTHK staff representatives, who have expressed fears about editorial independence under the board, to be appointed by Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen, have called on the government to scrap the idea.

The draft of the charter, handed to lawmakers this month, states that the board will have no executive power and will not be involved in the day-to-day operation or staffing matters of RTHK.

But it will be responsible for 'advising the Director of Broadcasting on all matters pertaining to editorial principles, standards and quality of programming' and the director 'shall report and explain to the board the reasons for not following the advice'.