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Author: Yi Wenjian
2020-04-06 16:27
Date of last update: 2020-04-06 16:35The corporatization and separation from the government structure will help Hong Kong, Taiwan and the government to get rid of the conflict of roles, but the public broadcaster is ultimately the media, and the government and parliament have a certain role, and they will inevitably be involved in political disputes. In fact, Taiwanese and British peers have also encountered difficulties in board elections, coping with social politicization, and financial arrangements. The experience in China can bring a lot of inspiration to the transformation of Hong Kong and Taiwan.
To undertake the above: Hong Kong and Taiwan can become "Hong Kong BBC" without the government structure and independent operation?
The Broadcasting Review Committee had recommended that Hong Kong and Taiwan transform into an independent statutory public broadcaster like the BBC. (Profile picture)
Taiwan: Board elections trap political parties
The "Huang Yingshi Report" proposes that the board of directors of Hong Kong and Taiwan include the chief executive, employee representatives and people from all walks of life. The latter is composed of the members of the last board of directors and representatives of the community advisory committee. The nomination committee can be publicly recruited and nominated by Luo. However, political party members should not be considered, and those appointed by the chief executive should be selected.
The review committee rejected any form of electoral system, saying that the process is complicated and that members of the election are prone to favor the interests of the community. The chief executive appointment mechanism is similar to most statutory bodies, so it can be followed. However, many organizations proposed the election of directors during the consultation period to reduce the number of officials and increase the representativeness of public opinion. In recent years, the society has lost its trust in the appointment of chief executives. The appointment of members of university councils and medical committees has attracted opposition from time to time. If Hong Kong and Taiwan are corporatized, it is difficult to appoint directors.
The endorsement of directors by the legislature has its advantages, but the system must be carefully designed. Taiwan Public Television, which is subject to political disputes between the blue and green camps, has given Hong Kong a bad example in this regard. The foundation board behind PTV is nominated by the Executive Yuan, approved by the Legislative Yuan and approved by the Board of Directors and Supervisors composed of members of the public, and then appointed by the Executive Yuan. Directors with a political party background cannot exceed one-fourth of the total number and must not participate in political party activities during their term of office. The threshold for approval by the review committee is three-quarters. The original intent was to ensure that directors can surpass party positions, but this move caused disputes and the fifth and seventh director elections were in trouble.
Chen Shunxiao, associate professor of the Department of Journalism and Communication at Furen University and the sixth director of Public Television explained in an interview that in 2008, Taiwan ’s political party rotation, the Kuomintang took advantage of the law to expand the number of the fourth board of directors in operation, in order to increase the voting advantages of the KMT ’s interested candidates, As a result, new and old directors within the board of directors do not bite. The term of the fourth term of directors ended at the end of 2010, but because the blue and green teams were busy blocking candidates supported by the other party, many fifth-term director candidates were unable to obtain the support of three-quarters of the review committee members. As a result, it took more than two years for PTV to select the lower 17 directors until early 2013.
Chen Shunxiao suggested lowering the clearance threshold for directors of Public Television. (Provided by the interviewee)
Similar candidates appeared again in the seventh election of directors. Last year, the Executive Yuan recommended 21 people. However, in the second round of the September review meeting, only 7 people passed the test, which is still not enough for the quorum.
Chen Shunxiao suggested that the threshold for director clearance should be lowered to half. Like adopting the criteria for the selection of judges, this will of course have the disadvantages of the ruling party leading, but it can speed up the selection process and also force the ruling party to be responsible for the decision of the board of directors. As for the tenure of directors, Chen Shunxiao believes that it needs to be revised, including keeping up with the term of the government, that is, a four-year system, and half of the election every two years, to protect the success of the policy guidelines of the public television, and to avoid political parties from being involved in the rotation of the public television board.
Hong Kong's democratic and institutional camps have clear barriers, and the three-quarter high threshold of the review committee is used to select the directors of Xingangtai. There will be no less disputes than Taiwan. The compromise may be a mixed model, such as accepting public recruitment, after being nominated by the current board of directors and public forums, passed by two-thirds of the votes of the Legislative Council, and then appointed by the chief executive. The chairman of the board of directors is elected by the directors. It is believed that it can reduce the degree to which the government intervenes in the decision-making of Xingangtai by the directors and reduces the selection obstacles.
Britain: still come to the door after breaking away from government politics
Radio Hong Kong is in a political vortex, and the British BBC is not much better. The BBC is not an "official platform". With its board of directors, the "Royal Charter" stipulates that the media must be impartial and act in the public interest. People generally trust and often read the news of the BBC. However, facing the Brexit controversy several years ago, even if the BBC announced that the information was released equally, pro-European supporters of the European Union accused the BBC of favoring the other party ’s formation. Among them, they support Brexit. The majority of the public complaints against the BBC.
British nationals must pay TV fees to the BBC. With the impact of subscription media such as Netflix, there have been comments that the mandatory payment is out of date and was refuted by BBC management. (Getty Images)
The British Communications Authority's 2018/19 annual report deliberately analyzed a series of program complaints. After investigation, it was confirmed that the BBC did not deliberately suppress the Brexit opinion, but another report pointed out that the public's impression of BBC news has deteriorated, including dissatisfaction with the BBC. Brexit materials. One of the reasons is that social media has strengthened the echo wall effect. Social media posts and netizen comments are exhaustive to comment on the words and deeds of the host or reporter. Among them, there may be few people who have strong political attitudes, but they have many criticisms. And strong, the sound is amplified on social media.
In addition, the host and reporters often clash with officials on current affairs programs, so officials must be prepared to be rude to them. In July last year, the British Prime Minister Johnson was challenged by the BBC host Andrew Neil during the election of the party leader. At the end of November, the BBC held a TV debate in the British election. Johnson arranged that the former environment minister Gao Wenhao was rejected. The Conservative Party therefore complained to the British Communications Bureau about the provocation of the BBC, alleging that the BBC violated its duty to uphold the justice of the media, but the Communications Bureau did not accept it.
Audience perceptions and official attitudes are sometimes difficult to control, so the public media relies on institutional firewalls to keep a distance from the government and even reduce direct government subsidies to convince the public to be fair and reduce the government's use of it. But the reality is often not as expected. There are many ways for government officials to threaten the public media. During the campaign last year, Johnson publicly expressed his intention to adjust the BBC's TV costs and shake the financial resources of this ninety-year-old store. Many comments pointed to this as a "great trick" by the Conservative Party and Johnson to retaliate against the BBC.
During the campaign last year, Johnson publicly expressed his intention to adjust the BBC's TV costs and shake the financial resources of this 90-year-old store. (Reuters)
Household levy model with fiscal weakness is outdated?
The audience of public broadcasters is the people, and the most ideal financial model is to charge the audience, and the practice is for the people and used for the people. The television license fees implemented by the BBC, Japan Broadcasting Association (NHK) and Continental Public Media are the closest to the concept and have always been respected. Every local household who installs a TV must pay a license fee, and the income is used to support public broadcast expenses. In the UK, even if you do not have a TV at home, you only have to pay to watch programs on the Internet. At present, each household must pay 154.5 pounds (about HK $ 1,490) per year, and the offender commits a criminal offense. Ninety percent of the license fee is BBC income, which supports three quarters of the BBC's expenditure.
In addition to the practice of using the benefits of household fees, the audience has a greater sense of responsibility to require the organization to respond to the needs of the public. The media uses broadcasting to shape and unite the common value of society, while the stable and predictable income gives public broadcasters confidence. Spend resources to create new shows and adventures. Many people even pointed out that this action helps prevent the government and the business community from using financial control over public broadcasters, so that the audience can receive information that is not affected by the government and the business community.
Getting rid of government reliance on administrative procedures, but also depends on how much government participation. Take the United Kingdom as an example. The amount is determined by the government. The license fee is first collected by the warehouse. After the budget is approved by the Congress, the BBC is allocated. The government plays an important role in the process. Because of this, even though the Royal Charter guarantees that the current fee system will be maintained until 2027, the British government has repeatedly proposed changes in fees in the past few months, such as consulting the public to decriminalize arrears, requesting the exemption of elders ’payment, and even later The cancellation of license fee measures shocked the BBC management.
In the UK, even if you do not have a TV at home, you only have to pay to watch programs on the Internet. (Getty Images)
Those who oppose the payment of public broadcasting fees believe that in the digital age, the number of people reading the BBC has declined, media operations have also turned to subscription systems, and the forced payment system is outdated. BBC Director Tony Hall maintains the license fee system, emphasizing that the BBC cannot be Netflix: "The BBC is the national fabric. Netflix does not broadcast sports programs, does not produce news programs, and there are many things not to do."
European countries have also reviewed the charging model in recent years, and Denmark and Sweden have switched to tax-funded public broadcasters. In order to stabilize the revenue of public media in Sweden, the Parliament passed a tax on every adult national since January last year. The tax rate is 1% of the income, and the maximum is 1,300 kronor (about 1,090 Hong Kong dollars). The income will be included in the public service account. Denmark also started to cut license fees in five years last year and changed to paying public media with taxes. At the same time, it asked public media to cut expenditures by 20% within five years.
In fact, the license fee model has its shortcomings. Professor Feng Jiansan of the School of Communication, National University of Taiwan, said in an interview: "The concept of license fees is like consumption tax. Both high and low incomes have to pay the same fee, and the collection process also costs .... "Economic efficiency." He also opposed the introduction of commercial advertising in the public media, because he was worried that it would be affected by commercial interests, and the public media should not rob commercial media advertising. He agrees that government funding may increase the opportunity to manipulate public media. In addition to relying on the independent structure and agreements of public media, it also depends on media self-strengthening. Private supervision is also essential.
Feng Jiansan opposed the license fee and believed that direct government funding was more efficient. (Provided by the interviewee)
The BBC charging dispute reminds Hong Kong that the levy of households does not necessarily ensure that public media saves financial troubles. If the government intends to use financial marginalization to position and play the role of public media, public media must be prepared to respond.
In fact, if Hong Kong and Taiwan are to strive for greater autonomy, they must review their financial situation, improve resource allocation, avoid waste, and then formulate open source strategies. The "Huang Yingshi Report" denied the license fee and agreed with the government's gradual reduction in funding. However, as discussed above, the social benefits of the license fee cannot be obliterated, and at the moment when Hong Kong people are hotly discussing the role of Hong Kong and Taiwan, they propose that the levy should be exchanged for Hong Kong and Taiwan Responsibility also has its rationality.
Assuming that most people who receive content from RTHK programs use smartphones, RTHK can levy license fees through mobile telecommunications providers. The government must ensure that special funds are used exclusively. The adjustment of license fees must be agreed by both RTHK and the government. According to the statistics of the Census and Statistics Department in 2018, there are about 5.3 million Hong Kong people who have reached the age of 20 with a smartphone. If each person is forced to collect 15 yuan per month, Hong Kong and Taiwan can charge 954 million yuan per year, which is equivalent to the 2020/21 budget of Hong Kong and Taiwan Nearly 90%.
The government can take advantage of the situation to lower the amount of funding, for example, to 70% of the current level. Even without sponsorship and program copyright, it is roughly estimated that the total income of Hong Kong and Taiwan has exceeded 1.6 billion yuan. In this way, the government can also reduce the financial burden on Hong Kong and Taiwan. The decentralization of financial sources in Hong Kong and Taiwan can alleviate the worries about the government's financial control, and new income can open up businesses, such as the international channels mentioned above.
Remember the public purpose to meet the challenge
Radio Television Hong Kong has many problems, but Hong Kong needs Radio Television Hong Kong to perform public broadcasting services, produce diverse programs that are of public interest and enlighten people ’s wisdom, make up for the deficiencies of commercial media, provide accurate information under the digital wave, and cultivate media talents. Retaining Hong Kong and Taiwan in government departments is not the best arrangement for public broadcasting, and corporatization is a better way out. It must be acknowledged that during and after the transition of Hong Kong and Taiwan, there are still challenges. In addition to the political disputes mentioned above, employees must also deal with their stay. How to persuade current employees will not be fully transitioned to New Hong Kong and Taiwan. The atmosphere tests the wisdom of the government. To overcome all kinds of difficulties, Hong Kong and Taiwan must bear in mind the purpose of public broadcasting, and the government needs to understand the significance. Hong Kong and Taiwan will remove the role of "official Taiwan" and implement a diversified and stable financial policy. The benefits to the government are greater than the disadvantages.
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The above excerpt is from the 208th Hong Kong 01 Weekly Report (April 6, 2020) "Corporation can keep Hong Kong and Taiwan away from political disturbances?" ".
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