Police reformed media definition 6 University’s Department of Journalism and Communication urged withdrawal: damaging press freedom in Hong Kong

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Written by: Li Fuyuan

2020-09-23 02:13

Last update date: 2020-09-23 02:18

The police wrote to the four media associations yesterday (22) stating that the definition of "media representative" under the "General Police Regulations" will be revised, which will take effect today (23).

The accredited media are divided into two categories: "Media organizations registered with the Information Services Department's Press Release System (GNMIS)" and "Internationally recognized and well-known non-local news agencies, newspapers, magazines, radio and television broadcasters".

The journalism and communication departments of six universities in Hong Kong, including Baptist University, Chinese University, City University, Hang Seng University, Shue Yan University, and the University of Hong Kong, issued a joint statement early this morning, criticizing the police's practices for depriving Hong Kong citizens of their basic rights and strongly urge the police Repeal the relevant arrangements so as not to damage the freedom of the press in Hong Kong.

Statement that the amendment will limit freedom of reporting

The statement stated that as journalistic educators in the 6 universities, relevant departments are highly concerned that the relevant arrangements actually deprive Hong Kong citizens of their basic rights, including freedom of speech, freedom of the press and the press, and freedom of association, assembly, procession, and demonstration. Policies will prevent journalists working for non-mainstream media, freelance journalists, and ordinary citizens from conducting interviews.

The statement stated that they understand that frontline police officers have certain difficulties in distinguishing reporters from others at the demonstration site. They also believe that the police have the right to take action against anyone who engages in illegal activities. However, the relevant arrangements actually restrict freedom of reporting and worry that the new policy is equivalent to instructions. Frontline police officers can disperse non-mainstream reporters who have made no mistakes.

The statement finally emphasized that the relevant arrangements would damage Hong Kong’s international image as a free society, which was described as unwise, and strongly urged the police to revoke the relevant arrangements so as not to damage the freedom of the press in Hong Kong.

According to police sources, the amendment will not affect the media's reporting activities in public places, mainly involving the blockade arrangement. In the future, the media on the list will be allowed to enter the blocked area for interviews; the amendment is also not directly related to the gathering restriction order, and currently needs to be Only employees who work on the spot can meet the exemption clause of "group gathering at the workplace for work" under the restriction order. Unpaid voluntary interview work does not meet the legal requirements.

↓↓List of 205 media registered with the Government Information Service↓↓

Baptist University’s journalism student internship newspaper "New Newsman" is not included in the GNMIS list.

The "New Newspaperman" issued a statement that the newspaper is a registered media within the government's legally registered newspapers and periodicals structure, and has the same status as other legally registered media in Hong Kong. However, after the police revised the regulations, they denied the local registered media, school media and citizen journalists in disguise. Restricting the legal status of reporters from the newspaper in conducting interviews and reporting on the news site also makes student reporters break the law when interviewing in public places, which increases the risk of arrest and no longer has their personal safety protected.

The newspaper continued that the press release system has always been used only to facilitate the government’s dissemination of government information to media organizations, but it has never been used as a criterion for judging media qualifications, emphasizing that student reporters are both media reporters and have legal credentials, clothing and accessories. Work proof identification, so the police’s reasoning that “the amendment is to allow frontline police officers to identify the media more quickly in the future” is not valid. They believe that the police’s rejection of school media deprives the public of their legal rights to the truth and urges the police to respect News coverage rights for all media including student media.

The police changed the definition of the media to not recognize the news: freelance journalists must produce proof of employment

The police reforms the definition of media. Currently, only 205 media have been registered with the Press Department.

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The Police Amendments to the "General Police Regulations" come into effect, "media representatives" must have registered with the Information Services Department

Police Force Media Baptist University Hang Seng University (Hengda) The University of Hong Kong Chinese University City University Shue Yan University