“Why do you have privilege?” – The attitude of journalists nowadays

出自香港新聞網 - 樹仁新傳系學生實習習作

25-10-2006 10:12 045005 黃頌雅 WONG, CHUNG NGA

Cheung Kwai-yeung, Executive Committee Member, HK Press Council said a high praise of running a newspaper by literati, but it is a barrier to development in journalism.

Cheung said it was a traditional to run a newspaper by literati in Chinese society. They ran a newspaper was because they wanted to have a place to give out their comment of news, but not for the truth. Therefore, its development was not so prosper as the Western’s. Businessmen owned newspapers in the Western had a revolution on tabloid to make newspapers become more popular among lower class people by adding simple words, large titles and pictures, so that it was not the monopoly of literati and governors. However, newspapers become a tool of earning money for boss nowadays. “For example, feature become another type of advertising, the only difference between it and real advertisement is it don’t have the word ‘advertising’ on the newspaper, but the natures are the same.”

“Newspaper is the personal belongings of the boss and the freedom of the press is only strive by the boss form the society, but not by the reporters from the boss,” Cheung said. Nowadays, many journalists think media is not a cultural property anymore, but a business. They are lack of independent thinking and only know to listen to the boss.

If the media is not a cultural property, why do journalists have privilege? Why do the society trust them? If media is only a business, why do the governors need to insinuate to journalists? Why can they have a high degree of freedom of the press? Therefore the media should take the social responsibility and pass the good concept to the next generation.