Hong Kong News

Nonpartisan, Noncommercial, unconstrained.
Saturday, Jun 03, 2023

5 Hong Kong TV, radio stations must air 30 minutes a week on national identity

5 Hong Kong TV, radio stations must air 30 minutes a week on national identity

Government announces new rules as part of midterm review of 12-year licence for TVB, ViuTV, HOY TV, Commercial Radio and Metro Broadcast.

Hong Kong authorities will require TV and radio broadcasters using the public airwaves to run at least 30 minutes of content each week about national education and identity, as well as the national security law imposed by Beijing following anti-government protests in 2019.

Authorities announced the rules on Tuesday as part of a midterm review of the 12-year licence held by three free-to-air TV operators – Television Broadcasts (TVB), ViuTV and HOY TV – and radio stations Commercial Radio and Metro Broadcast. The government said the requirement would be adopted by amending the permit conditions or instruction by the Communications Authority.

But questions have been raised over whether the mandated content would prove effective in getting the intended messages across, with one media expert saying the government should address the reasons behind residents’ reticence towards the state, rather than churning out propaganda.

The national security law requires the government to “promote national security education in schools and universities and through social organisations, the media, the internet” and other means.

Under the new rules, the licensee should provide “no less than 30 minutes of programmes” on national education, national identity and national security law every week, on top of the existing required broadcast hours of current affairs programmes.

TV stations were also asked to double the weekly broadcast hours of programming for young people, while radio stations were allowed to reduce the total number of broadcast hours in English on their English radio channels to 55 per cent, down from the current minimum of 80 per cent.

Lawmaker Tik Chi-yuen, the sole non-establishment member of the Legislative Council, said an extra 30 minutes of national identity was a moderate amount.

“It is about five more minutes a day on average,” he said. “But the question is whether it can get the results the government wants to see. Hard-sell tactics cannot work nowadays. Sometimes it can backfire.”

Tik agreed additional programmes aimed at younger audiences was a good idea but cautioned that it needed to be packaged in the right way to grab their attention.

Media academic Bruce Lui Ping-kuen at Baptist University, and a former TV journalist, warned that governments could often find it difficult to instil patriotism in citizens.

“Sometimes, you cannot teach people to be patriotic or identify with their country. Back in 2008 when there was the Beijing Olympics, Hong Kong people identified very much with the country and Chinese astronauts were seen as heroes when they visited Hong Kong,” he said.

“What happened in recent years made people develop other sentiments towards the authorities. It is more important to address the source of the problems instead of asking the media to help the authorities do more propaganda, which can also harm the credibility of media organisations too.”

He also expressed concerns that such production could be misused to influence a media organisation’s independence.

But Elizabeth Quat, a lawmaker with the pro-Beijing Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, argued TV operators had a social responsibility to help the public understand government policies.

“The midterm review is supposed to be for the government to see what licensees need to do more and update the requirements,” she said. “So, it cannot be said to be unfair.”

Under Article 9 of the national security law introduced in 2020, the Hong Kong government has a duty to “promote national security education in schools and universities and through social organisations, the media, the internet” and other means.

AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Hong Kong News
Close
0:00
0:00
The driver has been described by authorities as a 21-year-old woman from Tallahassee
Joe Biden falls at the Air Force Graduation
America's Got Talent…
Elon Musk has been showered with praise by the Chinese public during his trip to China
Nvidia Joins Tech Giants as First Chipmaker to Reach $1 Trillion Valuation
Drone Attack on Moscow's Wealthiest Neighborhoods Suspected to be Launched by Ukraine
Elon Musk Meets Chinese Finance Minister in Beijing
AI ‘extinction’ should be same priority as nuclear war – experts
Chinese fighter jet buzzes U.S. Air Force spy plane over South China Sea
Prominent Hacker Forum RaidForums Suffers Substantial Data Breach
Nvidia CEO Huang says firms, individuals without AI expertise will be left behind
WPP Revolutionizes Advertising with NVIDIA's AI Powerhouse
Two US Employees Fired For Chasing Robbers Out Of Store As They Broke ''Company Policy''
Pfizer, the EU, and disappearing ink - Smoke, Mirrors, and the Billion-Dose Pfizer Vaccine Deal: EU's 'Open Secret
The Sussexes' Royal Rebound: Could Harry and Meghan Markle Return to the UK?
A provocative study suggests: Left-Wing Extremism and its Unsettling Connection to Psychopathy and Narcissism
Neuralink Receives FDA Approval for First-in-Human Clinical Study
Ukrainian Intelligence Official Admits to Assassination Attempts on Putin
WATCH THIS: democracy in Russia is so bad!
Ed Davey: It is possible for a woman to have a penis
Bernard Arnault Loses $11.2 Billion in One Day as Investors Fear Slowdown in US Growth Will Reduce Demand for Luxury Products
Russian’s Wagner Group leader: “I am not a chef, I am a butcher. Russia is in danger of a revolution like in 1917.”
TikTok Sues Montana Over Law Banning the App
Ron DeSantis Jumps Into 2024 Presidential Race, Setting Up Showdown With Trump
Steve Jobs introducing Apple's iPhone, exactly 16 years ago.
Banking Behemoth vs Ex-Boss: The PMorgan-Epstein Entanglement
China overtakes Japan as world's top car exporter
Talks between US House Republicans and President Biden's Democratic administration on raising the federal government's $31.4tn debt ceiling have paused
Biden Administration Eyeing High-Profile Visits to China: The Biden Administration is heating things up by looking into setting up a series of top-level visits to Beijing by top officials in the coming months
New evidence in special counsel probe may undercut Trump’s claim documents he took were automatically declassified
A French court of appeals confirmed former President Nicolas Sarkozy's three-year jail term for corruption and influence peddling
Debt Ceiling Crises Have Unleashed Political Chaos
Weibao Wang, a former software engineer at Apple, was charged with stealing trade secrets related to autonomous systems, including self-driving cars
Mobile phone giant Vodafone to cut 11,000 jobs globally over three years as new boss says its performance not good enough
Elon Musk compares George Soros to Magneto, the supervillain from the Marvel Comics series.
Warren Buffett Sells TSMC Shares Over Concerns About Taiwan's Stability
New Study Finds That Secondary Bacterial Pneumonia Is a Major Cause of Death in COVID-19 Patients Who Require Ventilator Assistance
The official tapes of Trump's deposition in the E. Jean Carroll battery (rape) and defamation case have been released.
King Charles III being crowned.
Newly released video of Donald Trump’s rape trial deposition:
Video: Ukraine MP Punches Russian Representative At Global Meet
El Paso mayor has declared a state of emergency
Russia accused Ukraine of attacking the Kremlin with drones in an attempt to kill Putin
Dutch court orders man who fathered 550 kids to stop donating sperm
Kim Kardashian Lookalike Christina Ashten Dies Of Cardiac Arrest, Hours After Plastic Surgery
Samsung has banned employees from using generative AI services such as ChatGPT
'Godfather Of AI' Geoffrey Hinton Quits Google To Warn Of The Tech's Dangers
A Real woman
Vermont Man Charged with Stalking After Secretly Tracking Woman with Apple AirTag
Elon Musk Statements About Tesla Autopilot Could Be 'Deepfakes,' Lawyers Claim. Judge Evette Pennypacker Does Not Understand How Far and Advanced This Technology Became
×