Letters | Will Foreign Correspondents’ Club move on from Hong Kong ‘press freedom’ debate?
- Readers discuss recent events at the FCC, the lack of pet-friendly transport in Hong Kong, seating at Art Central, lingering gender stereotypes, and the stigma of addiction
The motion expressing commitment to press freedom was not “overwhelmingly” passed, as suggested by the piece. Correspondent members, under the weighted voting system adopted by the club, have 25 votes for every one vote of associate members. So given that there were more than 1,000 “for” votes, about 100 “against” votes and about 350 abstentions, it seems probable that many of about 40 correspondent members voted in favour of the motion, with about 400 or so either voting against or abstaining.
Associate members of the club – who pay substantially higher joining fees – have had to put up long enough with having the views of a minority who, despite their journalist credentials, appear to be blissfully unaware of the world around them.
The board is to be congratulated for navigating a difficult situation with tact. Let’s hope the FCC can move on from this sterile debate.
Graham Barkus, Tung Chung