Hong Kong electoral reforms: Carrie Lam the TV host – did she nail it or was talk show a propaganda bid?
- Forty-episode RTHK series ‘did little to explain major issues or address citizens’ concerns’
- Chief Executive’s Office insists TV shows helped to inform Hongkongers and were widely reported
It was a first, when Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor hosted a 40-part television show to explain Beijing’s massive overhaul of Hong Kong’s electoral systems.
The series, Get to Know the Election Committee Subsectors, comprised short episodes of 10 to 13 minutes each, featuring the city leader chatting with a parade of prominent guests.
They were from all 40 industries represented on the Election Committee which selects the city’s leader. In the revamp of the city’s electoral systems, the committee has been expanded, given new responsibilities and become more powerful.
It was the first time a Hong Kong leader had hosted a television series. But Lam’s effort has been panned by media experts and pro-establishment scholars, who said it came across as propaganda and achieved little beyond showing Lam heaping praise on Beijing and defending the political changes, with little attempt to explain the issues to Hongkongers or address their concerns.
Her sharpest critics said Lam merely exploited the opportunity to promote herself ahead of next year’s chief executive election.
Neither public broadcaster RTHK, which aired the series, nor Lam’s office released viewership figures, but recorded shows uploaded on YouTube drew fewer than 5,000 viewers for most episodes.
The exception was the episode when veteran artist Liza Wang Ming-chun, chairwoman of the Cantonese opera performers’ group Barwo, appeared and asked Lam why the number of seats for her sector in the Election Committee had been reduced. That drew more than 60,000 views on YouTube.
