What’s good journalism? When it agrees with you
- A heated exchange, leaked on the internet, between news site HK01 boss Yu Pun-hoi and one of his reporters shows how precarious it is for journalists to hide behind claims of objectivity
Reporters are always told to be objective and factual. A journalist from the news group HK01 has taken such standards to an alarming extreme. A heated exchange between HK01 boss Yu Pun-hoi and one of his staff was secretly taped during a company meeting and has gone viral online.
However, what is truly concerning is that the attitude of this reporter is not exceptional, but widespread within the local news industry. That may help explain how the public perceptions of the seven-month social unrest have been shaped. I have translated parts of the exchange. You can easily find the whole clip online.
Yu: But who vandalised our company car? The blue or yellow camp?
Reporter: No one knows because the investigation is not finished.
Yu: If I remember correctly, our own reporters saw them vandalising our own car. Is that right?
Reporter: I wasn’t there physically. I can’t answer you.