When viewed in the global perspective of press freedom, Hong Kong is not bad.
To be sure, there is much concern these days about the state of Hong Kong’s press, specifically how free in reality it is and its future prospects. The concern is understandable, but the perspective on Hong Kong press freedom is sometimes misconstrued and misinterpreted.
For example, the annual Press Freedom Index published by Reporters Without Borders shows a decline in Hong Kong’s press freedom from 2010 to 2013, but based on the index the U.S. has also seen a drop from 2012 to 2013 (http://en.rsf.org/press-freedom-index-2013,1054.html).
Whe science and behind the scene of polls always leaves much margin for error. Specifically how was this poll constructed?
One could easily say that the U.S. is experiencing a decline in press freedom given the U.S. Government’s recent brouhaha with The Associated Press the largest wire service in the U.S. Back in May The AP reported that the U.S. Justice Department had secretly obtained two months of records of phone conversations by its reporters.
In recent years the Hong Kong Journalists Association’s mantra has been that press freedom in Hong Kong is on the rocks. More than one-third of journalists say they either personally practice self-censorship or work with supervisors who do, owing in part to the fact that many papers in Hong Kong are owned by individuals connected to political bodies in mainland China, according to polls by HKJA.
At the same token the reports and polls that HKJA come up with rarely include positive cases of press freedom or freedom of expression. (It can’t all be bad right?) Or at the very least offer a more balanced view of things.
Here’s some information. Hong Kong has an active press and as of February 2012 had 50 daily newspapers, and 648 periodicals including those online.
There are other signs of freedom of expression. Hong Kong’s major universities including Chinese University of Hong Kong boast miniature versions of Goddess of Democracy are the small, and hundreds of thousands appear annually for the June 4th vigil (and yes, this is covered by the local press). These are samplings of subtle signs of freedom that are to be cherished and coveted.
In April I attended the Human Rights Press Awards, which also celebrated its 17th year. The awards have grown from a small affair to a major ceremony attended by journalists and editors from both the Chinese and English media. The awards wouldn’t have existed if press freedom didn’t exist. Certainly it is questionable whether such an event would be held over the border.
In summary, rather than viewing Hong Kong’s state of press freedom in black and white, observers should consider acknowledging and examining the gray area. A utopia of a totally free press doesn’t exist and never did, but right now things are humming along. That’s not so bad is it?
