HONG KONG (Reuters) – When a group of manufacturers at Radio Tv Hong Kong (RTHK) heard on Might 19 that the openly funded broadcaster prepared to axe one of its most popular weekly shows, they rushed to the structure next door to challenge the station’s head.
FILE PHOTO: Journalists wearing yellow vests are seen during an anti-government demonstration to mock Chief Executive Carrie Lam at Mong Kok, in Hong Kong, China, May 13,2020 REUTERS/Tyrone Siu/File Image
A group of about 20 manufacturers and other workers from RTHK’s TELEVISION and radio operations barged into a meeting room where Leung Ka-wing, director of broadcasting, was meeting with top executives.
Some staff required to know why the satirical and existing affairs tv program “Headliner”– which had drawn official complaints after poking fun at the Hong Kong authorities in an episode in February – was being cancelled, and whether the move was triggered by pressure from authorities.
The unscripted meeting lasted about 90 minutes, throughout which numerous staffers cried and raised their voices, according to 3 individuals present. Leung stated he took the decision to cancel the program in order to “safeguard RTHK” and its personnel, according to the 3 individuals.
As conversations continued inside the conference room, RTHK revealed it was suspending production of the Chinese-language program, which had been running since 1989, at the end of the present season. RTHK apologized to anyone angered by the station’s output however did not offer a factor for the suspension.
Leung, 67, who made his name in broadcasting throughout the Tiananmen Square crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Beijing in 1989, decreased to address Reuters’ concerns about the conference. He denied making the remark about securing RTHK, according to RTHK spokesperson Amen Ng. Other executives in the meeting that Reuters could identify did not reply to ask for comment.
Hong Kong’s government did not discuss whether it had pressed Leung to cancel the show.
RTHK, founded in 1928 and sometimes compared to the British Broadcasting Corporation, is the only independent, publicly funded media outlet on Chinese soil. It is guaranteed editorial self-reliance by its charter.
The cancellation of “Headliner” has prompted worry amongst some reporters that mounting pressure from the Hong Kong federal government and Beijing will destroy that self-reliance.
Hong Kong reached boiling point last summertime as millions of pro-democracy protesters required to the streets and some of them clashed strongly with authorities, posing one of the most significant obstacles to China’s leader Xi Jinping given that he concerned power in2012
In action to the demonstrations, China said last month it would introduce national security legislation in Hong Kong to forbid secession, subversion and external disturbance. More than a dozen people working at RTHK and other media companies told Reuters they fear that legislation might be utilized to silence or closed down independent media in the area.
The scenario is like being under the blade of a guillotine, sa