My Take | A fine line between objectivity and responsibility
- Like other people, journalists have a duty to help those in distress or danger, even if that’s not written in our code of conduct
I feel sorry for judges these days. Whenever they are involved in cases dealing with anti-government protesters, whatever their comments or judgments, they are bound to upset one political group or another.
District Court Judge Ernest Lin Kam-hung caused controversy this week when he ordered the removal of several people wearing yellow masks from his court.
The colour has become a symbol of the anti-government protest movement.
But what interests me here are his comments about reporters while the court was viewing video footage submitted by prosecutors. Lin alleged people wearing yellow vests – whom he believed were from the press – had “constituted a part of the riot” by “standing there” and “preventing the victims from leaving”.
That has upset many news groups. For me, though, his criticism raises several possibilities, which deserve examination:
● Just because you wore a yellow vest and carried a camera didn’t mean you were a journalist. During the protests and riots of 2019, police had complained that some people were pretending to be journalists while interfering with police operations by standing between them and protesters.