Can ‘everyone be a journalist?’ Hong Kong security chief hits out at news groups, accusing them of ‘infiltrating’ schools, influencing youth
- Chris Tang says Hong Kong Journalists Association went against professional code, blaming fake news for spreading hatred of authorities among young people
- Union hits back, calling remarks ‘strange’ and pointing out that right to free press is enshrined in Basic Law
Hong Kong’s security minister has hit out at major journalist groups in the city, accusing them of “infiltrating” schools to attract student reporters and going against professional ethics.
Tang also accused the Hong Kong Journalists Association of advocating a sense of “everyone can be a journalist”, which he said went against professional ethics.
“With executive committee members mainly from a few media outlets and positions filled by many student journalists, it made people question how representative the association is,” Tang said.
“The association advocated that everyone could be a journalist. A 13-year-old can be a journalist. Untrained people can also be journalists. This deviated from the public expectation that journalists should be professionally trained.”
Association chairman Ronson Chan Ron-sing expressed anger over Tang’s remark, which he described as “strange”. He said Tang’s information was factually incorrect as only 13 per cent, or 60, of the group’s 459 members were students.