South China Morning Post: Pressing times for media [excerpt]

FIVE YEARS after Hong Kong's return to Chinese sovereignty, the media is confronted with a choice: maintain the free flow of information or practice self-censorship to avoid jeopardizing businesses' growing interests in the mainland.

With the SAR's political and business leadership seeking closer integration with the mainland, some analysts and observers say the media seems to be bending with the northward breeze rather than risk incurring the wrath of Beijing and its increasingly captive audience.

Others maintain the press and electronic media remain as free as ever and there has been no evidence of censorship.

While the media has remained relatively free in its operations under Chinese sovereignty since 1997, two themes have emerged: allegations of increasing self-censorship and the growth in sensationalist reporting.

The Hong Kong Journalists' Association on Sunday released a report which noted freedom of expression had existed in a "more positive environment" in the final years of British colonial rule than now. "Without doubt, the environment for vibrant and healthy free expression, and a free press, in Hong Kong has become hazy, and more ambiguous, since 1997," it said.

The journalists' group, which annually releases reports detailing threats to media freedom, said there were continuing perceptions the Hong Kong media were becoming increasingly cautious.

"While freedom of expression broadly has remained intact since the July 1997 handover to the People's Republic of China, pressures have been growing on the media to curtail coverage of issues deemed sensitive to the central Government in Beijing."

Areas of sensitivity included views supporting independence for Taiwan, the Falun Gong movement, separatist activities in Tibet and Xinjiang, dissidents, inner workings of the Chinese Communist Party and the performance of mainland leaders, said the association.

The recent push to further Hong Kong's integration with the mainland as a hedge against economic downturns and to take advantage of its accession to the World Trade Organization has heightened pressure on the media to tone down coverage of Chinese affairs, said Professor Kenneth Leung Wai-yin, of the Chinese University of Hong Kong's journalism and communications department.

"Against this background no media organization would like to anger or offend China because that could lead to them being excluded from business opportunities in China," he said.

Media owners with an eye on mainland business opportunities were not the only figures putting pressure on, Professor Leung said.

Pressure was also coming from tycoons seeking more harmonious relations between Hong Kong and the mainland to improve their chances of winning projects as well as from people at a grassroots level who saw more opportunities for better jobs and ways of enriching themselves, he said.

Professor Leung believed self-censorship was rising but said an extensive study was needed to provide evidence and understand the phenomenon. Indications that it was being practiced included some of the most critical newspapers becoming more patriotic and emphasizing Hong Kong affairs rather than developments on the mainland.

The journalists' association report said there had been a deterioration in mainland coverage over the past decade. The Hong Kong media had previously been a "mine of information" about China and the communist leadership.

"Nowadays, most Hong Kong journalists look to their Chinese counterparts for cues on what is safe to publish," said the report, adding that consumer, accident and crime stories as well as coverage of low- and mid-level corruption were considered to be safe mainland topics. "Some sensitive mainland topics still find their way into the Hong Kong media, but increasingly, these riskier stories are drawn from news agency reports." [……]

HKJA chair Mak Yin-ting said surveys had shown self-censorship was present in SAR journalism and practitioners were well aware of it around them.

"Colleagues at the Federation of Hong Kong Journalists would know that there are some cases of self-censorship," she said.

According to the journalists' association, the government broadcaster, Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK), has come under pressure from pro-Beijing publications and individuals wanting the station to become a government propaganda mouthpiece. [……]

The South China Morning Post has found itself under close scrutiny since 1997. The newspaper continues to examine the rapid pace of change on the mainland, including political issues such as the forthcoming expected leadership transition, as well as limitations on freedoms.

However, critics say the resignation of former China editor Willy Wo-lap Lam in 2000 and the firing of Beijing bureau chief Jasper Becker in April have raised concerns. [……].