Hong Kong’s public broadcaster RTHK seems to have forgotten its mandate in favour of courting controversy

In the post-truth era, public broadcasters must hold themselves up to high standards of neutrality and focus on reporting the facts. Instead, RTHK has found itself embroiled in one controversy after another

Alice Wu

Published: 5:00am, 25 May 2020

Why you can trust SCMP

It’s safe to say that no one envies RTHK – Hong Kong’s sole public broadcaster – right now. It really has been lighting too many fires and fighting too many battles for far too long too: its appeals for more funding, most recently for overtime pay, are repeatedly denied, the Audit Commission slammed it for relaying too much on reruns – 40 per cent of programmes in 2017-18 – and offering little original content on its two television channels, and more recently the Communications Authority lifted the requirement for free television channels to run RTHK-produced programmes.

For years, RTHK has been – rightly or wrongly – accused by pro-government supporters of being anti-government. But it is only recently that these complaints have resulted in more than picket lines in front of the station and photo-ops for petitioners.

The Communication Authority has handed down two damaging rulings against RTHK, in favour of complaints it had received over two programmes. In April, the communications watchdog ruled that in an episode of the Pentaprism programme aired in November, the host made “baseless, misleading, biased and partial” allegations and incited hatred against the government and police.

On May 19, RTHK issued a public apology over an episode of its Headliner political satire programme, which the Communications Authority said “denigrated and insulted” the police force and, more importantly, was factually inaccurate.

Riot police are on guard in Central as anti-government protesters organise a rally on February 21. A comedy sketch on the February 14 episode of RTHK’s satirical programme Headliner implied police had stockpiled masks for officers amid a citywide shortage during the coronavirus epidemic. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

There was also the RTHK reporter who in late March tried to use “gotcha journalism” with the World Health Organisation’s assistant director general Dr Bruce Aylward via teleconference by blindsiding him with a question about Taiwan’s membership to the international health body. This did not help the public broadcaster win friends or further its cause.

The journalist certainly made a name for herself, but what a mess she had created for the public broadcaster. Government officials were quick to condemn the question, citing it as a breach of the “one China” principle that the broadcaster is obliged to uphold.

An RTHK interview with WHO assistant director general Dr Bruce Aylward sparked controversy after he was pressed on the organisation’s stance on Taiwan. Photo: RTHK

The Hong Kong government swooping in quickly to loudly condemn RTHK was predictably greeted with cries of “censorship”. But very little has been said about what could have been.

Without the very public reprimand, the broadcaster could have drawn the wrath of powers that have shown they were ready to go ballistic at the slightest provocation. The Hong Kong Macau Affairs Office and the central government’s liaison office are now more than happy to issue public statements. “One country” and “one China” have become trigger words in this politically hypersensitive time and space. Beijing feels it necessary to assert its authority and is not shy to make its presence felt.

The RTHK has, for years, been brushing off complaints and accusations of media bias. Instead of taking this criticism seriously, it has missed opportunities to do better and now found itself backed into a corner.

Office crunch for RTHK after getting ‘hasty’ notice to vacate education centre

When people are increasingly playing fast and loose with facts, it is of utmost public interest that public broadcasters be on the forefront of fighting “post-truth politics”. This requires even more stringent journalistic standards. Baseless and misleading allegations and factual inaccuracies should not be allowed to permeate a public broadcaster’s programmes.

Now, RTHK’s official advisers will form a working group to monitor the broadcaster’s governance and editorial principles. It is understandable that programme staff do not welcome this development – it means more bosses to answer to and no one likes being “monitored”. While opposition politicians, as expected, has been quick to cry foul, it is most worrying that the RTHK Programme Staff Union has already accused the board of “colluding with the government to intervene” in its internal operations.

RTHK staff call for an end to interference in their editorial decisions on March 13 at the RTHK headquarters in Kowloon Tong. Photo: Dickson Lee

Politicians may be expected to leap to conclusions, but for staff to be this hostile to their own board of advisers, even before the working group has been formed, is worrisome.

Of all that the RTHK Charter requires of the public broadcaster, being the subject of controversy and constant debate isn’t one of them. The best way to protect its editorial independence and its freedom to criticise the powers that be is to hold itself to the high standards of attention to the facts and neutrality.

Alice Wu is a political consultant and a former associate director of the Asia Pacific Media Network at UCLA

Help us understand what you are interested in so that we can improve SCMP and provide a better experience for you. We would like to invite you to take this five-minute survey on how you engage with SCMP and the news.