Almost 20 years after it was published, in 1986, the Broadcasting Review Board's report still makes refreshing reading. Read in the light of the recent row over whether Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen had a hand in RTHK's decision to axe its horse racing programme, the board demonstrated a deep understanding of the dilemmas faced by a government-owned public broadcaster.
It observed: 'As long as it remains a government department, RTHK will be viewed with suspicion by some both inside and outside government. Some, understandably, feel that RTHK must be subject to government pressure. Whether or not this is true is not the issue. The harm is done if a substantial number of people believe it to be true.'