Media Groups Slam New Accreditation Policy

Media groups and their supporters have slammed a move by the police to stop recognising reporters accredited by the Hong Kong Journalists’ Association or the Hong Kong Press Photographers Association, saying that dealt a further blow to press freedom, but those in favour insist it would lead to better regulation of the industry.

In a controversial move, the police on Tuesday said they will only recognise journalists registered with the government’s Information Services Department, or are a member of an internationally-known media group.

Currently, media representatives are defined as including reporters, photographers and television crew members who have identity documents issued by newspapers, agencies, TV and radio stations, or have membership cards with the HKJA or the Press Photographers Association.

In a joint statement, the HKJA and six major media groups called on the police to reverse the decision and vowed to take any possible action.

HKJA chairman Chris Yeung said the move by the police would further damage ties between the two sides, which have already been tense since the anti-government protests in the past year.

"To us, it is clearly aimed to make use of the so-called 'fake reporters' or fake cards issued to pave the way for introducing some form of official accreditation system by, first, restricting the number of reporters being allowed to do reporting in public places.

"By doing so, they have seriously damaged our working relations and trust."

Yeung told RTHK's Richard Pyne that while freelancers and those working in online media and student media are the ones who will be immediately affected, the new policy would have far-reaching repercussions.

"We are afraid that they will make sure of the registration system to, for insistence, de-register media organisations that are considered as being unfriendly or uncooperative, having obstructed the work of police operations."

Yeung pointed out that Chief Executive Carrie Lam had recently spoken about the need to "set things straight" with sectors such as media and education.

He also made it clear limiting coverage would affect the public's right to know, saying it was student reporters who had captured footage of a 12-year-old girl tackled and pinned to the ground by police during a protest in Mong Kok earlier this month.

Yeung insisted there have been no complaints about the current system, so there's no need to change it.

Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle also weighed in.

Priscilla Leung of the Business and Professionals Alliance said clearer guidelines could help the public regain confidence in the media, citing the controversy sparked by teenage reporters covering protests for certain online media outlets.

"I think the community did have some confusion about who qualifies to be a reporter in Hong Kong... I believe a certain kind of regulation is good to rebuild the confidence of the media industry in Hong Kong in the eyes of Hong Kong people."

But Ted Hui of the Democratic Party argued that the police were simply trying to crush dissent.

"I suspect what the police are worrying is that more of these citizen journalists and student journalists are revealing the wrongdoing of the police itself in times of protests, that's why they're trying hard to eliminate them," Hui said.