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Seven Hong Kong journalism schools blast police’s media access restrictions, warning of threat to city freedoms
- Universities among those demanding police reverse decision to limit access for some journalists, in joint statement condemning ‘ill-advised’ policy
- Police say guideline changes offer more transparency and do not impinge on press freedom
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Seven Hong Kong journalism schools have slammed police for limiting access to press briefings and restricted areas to only media from government-recognised news outlets, warning the move taking effect on Wednesday will damage city freedoms.
Universities urged the force in a rare joint statement to reverse the “ill-advised” policy, saying it would effectively restrict news reporting, while a trade association revealed it was weighing up whether to take legal action.
“We are concerned that the new policy would amount to giving clear instructions to officers to disperse non-mainstream journalists who have done no wrong and only exercising their right to gather information,” said the statement, which was drafted by the journalism department of Baptist University.
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The Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA) said it was taking legal advice and might consider applying for a judicial review to see if the amended guidelines infringed Basic Law guarantees of press freedom.
The force revealed on Tuesday it was changing guidelines under the Police General Orders on how officers should handle the different categories of journalists emerging over the past year of anti-government protests.
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From Wednesday, police said they would no longer recognise press accreditation issued by local media groups or journalist associations, unless they were registered with the Information Services Department.
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