RTHK pulling plug on long-running Hong Kong current affairs show City Forum
- Sources say the 41-year-old staple of Sunday television will not return after its summer break
- Critics accuse the broadcaster of silencing dissenting voices, but a pro-establishment lawmaker maintains the show was biased against her camp
A long-running current affairs show that has been popular for facilitating public debate is getting the axe after 41 years on the air following a programming decision by Hong Kong public broadcaster RTHK, the Post has learned.
City Forum, which first aired in 1980, will be suspended indefinitely, and a new season – which had been supposed to start this month after the summer break – will not go forward as planned, according to sources.
RTHK declined to confirm the decision on Sunday, saying programming was an internal editorial decision, though critics accused it of seeking to silence dissenting voices.
“RTHK’s programming arrangements and staffing are RTHK internal editorial matters. It is not appropriate to make comments individually,” a spokesman said. “According to the RTHK charter, RTHK is editorially independent.”
The broadcaster’s union and a political analyst, meanwhile, called on RTHK’s management to explain to the public why City Forum was being cut, but one pro-establishment lawmaker defended the decision, accusing the programme of bias and insisting viewers stood to lose nothing from it being discontinued.