Hong Kong public broadcaster RTHK launches probe over show segment featuring June 4 vigil organisers marking Tiananmen crackdown
- Feature in Legco Review episode of vigil organisers running a marathon was irrelevant and not approved for broadcast, RTHK says
- Station chief Patrick Li warns those held responsible for unapproved addition to show may be penalised
Hong Kong’s public broadcaster has launched a probe into an unapproved addition to a television programme showing June 4 vigil organisers commemorating the Tiananmen Square crackdown, warning those held responsible could face disciplinary action and may need to pay the production costs.
RTHK chief Patrick Li Pak-chuen issued the warning on Tuesday after the station deleted from its archive and online platform a segment of the Legco Review show on the grounds it was irrelevant and not approved for broadcast. The programme aired last Friday and the section featured vigil organisers running a marathon to mark June 4.
Li told a Legislative Council panel meeting the programme’s production would be outsourced while the production team had been transferred to other duties until the investigation had ended.
“We discovered there was a segment being added to the end of the programme without the approval of our editorial committee. The unapproved content deviated from our editorial management mechanism,” he told lawmakers.
Li, a career bureaucrat who replaced veteran journalist Leung Ka-wing as director of broadcasting in March, warned those responsible could face civil service punishment and cost implications.