Suffering severe and lingering illness, RTHK urgently needs to scrape the poison off its bone

　　香港电台更换管理层，民政事务局副秘书长李百全将出任台长，取代提早半年解约的梁家荣。检讨港台管治及管理的专责小组发表报告，直指港台犯下多宗罪，包括编辑管理有缺失、处理投诉存在利益衝突及人力资源重叠等，必须在制度、执行及监察上作出改善。港台被整顿是一件好事，市民期待港台从此脱胎换骨、焕然一新，但也不无忧虑。

　　港台百孔千疮，是特区政府肌体上的毒瘤。回归之初，港台就以鲜明的反政府立场而引人侧目，被爱国爱港人士斥为“阴阳怪气”、“低级趣味”，但港台有恃无恐，变本加厉。特别是在前年“修例风波”中，港台完全倒向反中乱港势力阵营，诋毁警方、支持黑暴、为“台独”张目等，引起投诉如潮。港台问题固然是长期积累所致，但梁家荣尸位素餐甚至包庇纵容，更是难辞其咎。可笑的是，梁家荣不知反省，反而“抛书包”以苏东坡自况，何止引喻失义，更反映他择错固执、意图推卸责任。

　　乌烟瘴气的港台早该整顿，管理失职的梁家荣早该问责，但为什麼有关行动一拖再拖，延至今日？原因不难理解，港台有两大“卸责金牌”，一曰“编辑自主”，二曰“新闻自由”，令有关主管部门动辄得咎，投鼠忌器。长期“和稀泥”的结果，就是姑息养奸，尾大不掉。

　　香港电台是政府机构，大部分员工是政府公务员，“编辑自主”再怎麼重要，也不可能凌驾於一般新闻伦理规範及港台约章。约章写得清清楚楚，港台需要宣传“一国两制”及基本法，报道须客观持平。但港台某些人视一切规章制度为无物，其立场之偏颇，报道之不公，比打正旗号的黄媒有过之而无不及。有人讽刺，特区政府每年花费十亿元公帑养一隻不守家门却专咬主人的“恶犬”，何苦来哉？

　　新闻自由也并非绝对，最起码不能偏离事实、社会道德及法律规範。然而，港台滥用了新闻自由，将之变成造谣诽谤鼓吹暴力的自由、配合西方反华势力妖魔化中央及特区政府的自由。香港电台早有“乱港平台”之名，岂是无因。

　　可见“编辑自主”也好，“新闻自由”也罢，决不是放弃新闻操守、推卸责任的藉口，更不是与特区政府唱对台戏、背叛国家利益的挡箭牌。美国之音去年播出一篇认同中国抗疫措施的报道，本来是客观中肯，但被特朗普政府批评为“帮中国宣传”，台长被即时“炒鱿”，这就是西方“新闻自由”的真相。如果香港按照美国的那一套新闻规範，港台管理层早该捲铺盖了，还有机会吟诗？

　　千呼万唤之下，政府终於正视港台问题，但也要看到，这些年来要求整顿港台的声音不绝，港台管理层也换过多次，可惜次次雷大雨小，不了了之。说到底，港台“日久失修”，沉疴难起，唯有彻底刮骨疗毒，动大手术，方有重生的希望。

2021-02-20

　　　　Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) is undertaking a management reshuffle. Deputy Secretary for Home Affairs Patrick Li Pak-chuen is to take up the post of Director of Broadcasting, replacing Leung Ka-wing who will step aside half a year before the end of his term. A special task force reviewing RTHK's governance and management has just released its report. It slams the public broadcaster for having committed multiple"crimes". Among others, there are shortcomings in management, conflict of interests in handling complaints and no holistic manpower strategy. It also points out that RTHK must make improvements in its system, execution and monitoring. It is a good thing that RTHK is being rectified. The public expect RTHK to undergo a thorough change to take on an entirely new look. Yet there are some concerns and worries.

　　Full of ills and troubles, RTHK is a malignant tumour in the body of the SAR Government. In the early days after Hong Kong's return to the Motherland, RTHK had already raised eyebrows with its clear-cut anti-government stance, being criticised by personages loving the country and Hong Kong as"behaving in odd and queer ways"and"having low taste".　　But RTHK seems to feel reassured and emboldened and go from bad to worse. Especially in the Anti-Extradition Law Amendment Bill incident two years ago, RTHK completely swung to the side of anti-China and trouble-making forces. It slandered the police force, supported riots by black-clad mobsters and served to boost the arrogance of "Taiwan independence". Hence public complaints kept pouring in. The problems with RTHK are no doubt accumulated over a long period of time, but Leung Ka-wing can hardly absolve himself from the blame as he has held on to his post while doing nothing and even covered up and winked at the wrongdoings. What is laughable is that Leung Ka-wing does not search his conscience but instead shows off to liken himself to Su Dongpo. Yet his allusion is improper which shows he chooses what is wrong and holds fast to it, in an attempt to shirk his responsibility.

　　An RTHK permeated with foul atmosphere should have been rectified long time ago, and a Leung Ka-wing neglecting his management duty should have been held accountable long time ago. So why no action has been taken until today? This is not hard to understand. RTHK has two "medallions" for shirking its responsibility: one is called"editorial independence"and the other"freedom of the press". This has put the authority in charge in a position of being liable to be blamed at every move and as such it has been hesitant to take action. The result of"blurring the line between right and wrong"in a long time is like"sparing the rod and spoiling the child"with the authority eventually becoming unable to supervise a subordinate.

　　RTHK is a government institution, and most of its employees are civil servants. No matter how important"editorial independence"is, it cannot possibly be placed above the general ethics and norms of journalism and the Charter of RTHK. The Charter clearly stipulates that RTHK should promote"one country two systems"and the Basic Law, and provide impartial news coverage. But certain individuals in RTHK regard all rules and regulations as nothing, whose news coverage is even more partial and unfair than certain self-identified"yellow"media outlets. No wonder there is such sarcastic comment: Why should the SAR Government torture itself by spending $1 billion public money each year to raise a"fierce dog"that guards no door of the house but bites its master instead?

　　Nor freedom of the press is absolute. At lease, news coverage cannot deviate from facts and social, ethical and legal norms. Nevertheless, RTHK has been abusing press freedom, turning it into freedom to fabricate rumours, slander and advocate violence, and freedom to demonise the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the SAR Government in cooperation with Western anti-China forces. RTHK has long been named a"trouble-making platform", which surely is not without reason.

　　　　Hence, neither"editorial independence "nor" freedom of the press"provides an excuse to give up journalistic ethics or to shirk responsibility, let alone a shield for anyone to antagonise the SAR Government and betray national interests behind it. The Voice of America (VOA) last year broadcast a report recognising China's anti-epidemic measures, which was of course objective and pertinent. But it was slammed by the Trump administration as"propagandising for China"and the director of VOC was fired on the spot. This is the true colour of Western"freedom of the press". Had Hong Kong followed that set of journalistic norms of the United States, the person at the RTHK's top management should have been sacked long time ago and no time left for him to recite any poem.

　　The government now begins to face squarely the problem of RTHK, having been urged a thousand times. Yet we should also see that in these years with incessant calls to rectify RTHK, management of RTHK has been replaced several times, but unfortunately there was great cry and little wool each time with nothing settled in the end. In the final analysis, RTHK is"out of repair for long years" and its illness is serious and chronic. Only through a big operation to completely scrape poison off its bone, can there be any hope for RTHK to gain a new life.

20 February 2021