Hong Kong’s public broadcaster RTHK must help nurture viewers’ sense of national identity, government-appointed chairman says

Hong Kong’s public broadcaster should provide “positive and responsible” programming on the national security and national anthem laws so the public better understands the legislation, its board of advisers has said. The direction came at a Wednesday meeting between members of the government-appointed RTHK board of advisers, and Leung Ka-wing, the director of broadcasting. Eugene Chan Kin-keung, a dentist who is chairman of the board, said they discussed editorial principles and programme quality during the meeting. Both parties agreed that RTHK could educate the public more by producing programmes that promote the new laws, he said. “As a public broadcaster, it should nurture the public’s sense of national identity. It’s an unshirkable responsibility,” Chan told the press after the meeting. “We hope RTHK could work on programmes that can explain the national security law, national anthem law in detail, so that the public could understand the legislation fully. We are not pressuring RTHK, but of course the production should do [so] in a positive and responsible way.” Chan quoted the RTHK charter, in which the broadcaster should fulfil the purpose of “promoting understanding of the concept of ‘one country, two systems’ and its implementation in Hong Kong. “It’s clearly stated, it’s our job,” he said. “If we are having a new law, everybody should understand. I won’t use the word promote, I will use the word embrace.” But he stressed that RTHK could still programme controversial views or criticism of the laws. “A fully comprehensive programme should include society’s views after thorough explanation,” Chan said. “RTHK’s the most appropriate platform that all those controversies, views can be fully explored, explain, so to put everyone at ease.” New working group to monitor governance, editorial principles at RTHK Anthony Fung Ying-him, a board member and journalism professor who attended the meeting, said it was agreed people could see the national security law from different perspectives. “But we hope after understanding, people will take a positive attitude to abide by the law,” he said. RTHK has come under scrutiny since its programme Headliner, a political satire, was ruled to have “denigrated and insulted” the police force. The broadcaster made a public apology afterwards, and said the show would be suspended and subjected to a review when its current season ended on June 19. The Commerce and Economic Development Bureau, which oversees the broadcaster, earlier urged it to discipline any employees responsible for the breaches. National anthem law: when you can ignore the song, and when you have to stand Mohan Datwani, another member of the board, said they had again reminded the broadcaster to follow the law in all of their programmes, including “not to be mischievous” and be accurate. Apart from evaluations with the board of advisers, the government announced last month it would establish a team comprising civil servants – without industry professionals – to review the governance and management of RTHK, to make sure the public broadcaster's services fully abide by its charter. The move has been seen by the staff union and critics as an attempt to erode the station’s editorial independence. Council Front lawmaker Claudia Mo Man-ching believed Chan’s latest move was part of a campaign to “take down” the public broadcaster, and that it was a “great leap backward” on the value of a free press. RTHK Programme Staff Union issued a statement after the meeting, suggesting “if the board requests RTHK only to highlight the positive side of the national security law in its programme, but to reduce other voices, it violates the charter, which clearly says it should be impartial in the views it reflects”. The union, which was not invited to the meeting, stressed that RTHK was editorially independent, and it had been effective all along. It urged the board to stop pressurising the director of broadcasting to control the whole broadcaster.