'i-Cable Management Meddle In Sensitive Topics'

A sacked journalist from i-Cable's China news team said on Wednesday that managers who were recently parachuted into the station have tried to prevent coverage of sensitive topics.

Wong Lai-ping, a senior editor on the China desk, was fired on Tuesday, triggering the resignation of the full China team.

She was among 40 members of the newsroom given the sack, with all department heads and another 16 journalists also resigning in protest.

Speaking on RTHK, Wong said one manager, Hui Fong-fai, requested more coverage of official Beijing press conferences.

She said Hui also tried to intervene in a story on mainland authorities forcing designated lawyers on crime suspects, which is what has happened to 12 young Hongkongers detained on suspicion of an illegal border crossing.

Wong said Hui asked them to "balance the story" by reporting how these "official lawyers" help people. But Wong said the story was about how suspects on the mainland can't hire their own lawyers.

"You can see the meddling....they gradually extend their hand, and you don't know when that will end," Wong said.

"[The managers] use the practice of pretending to be balanced to intervene. But because they were not familiar with mainland news, it was easy to dismiss them."

Wong added that she felt the sackings were "brutal" because the newsroom section heads were not consulted or even notified beforehand.

Bruce Lui, a senior journalism lecturer at Baptist University who spent time in i-Cable's China news team, said even though the station claims the layoffs have been made for financial reasons, there is more to it.

He told Commercial Radio that this is part of Beijing exerting comprehensive control to "rectify" the media because of what has happened in Hong Kong in recent years.