September 21, 2013

  • F.7 writing 1

    The credibility of Hong Kong newspapers

    Recently, several surveys reveal that many Hongkongers do not believe what they read in the local newspapers. It is because they doubt the professional conduct and ethics of reporters. Although the credibility of local newspapers is not high, I think that the Government should not monitor the media strictly.

    In fact, the quality and credibility of newspapers become poor as they have to face some problems below.

    There are a lot of local newspapers and magazines in HK, the competition among them is very keen. Therefore, some reporters exaggerate the fact of the news. It can attract more readers as the general education level of Hongkongers is not high. As a result, the newspapers can sell better. At the same time, the news from both newspapers and magazines becomes unreliable.

    By means of IT, the reporters receive lots of news in a short moment. However, they may not have enough time or ability to confirm whether the news is accurate or not. Also, the workload of reporters is extremely heavy and they may report wrongly.

    In order to solve the above problems, the quality of reporters has to be improved. The employer of local newspapers should provide training course for the new reporters who do not report the news or articles properly.

    The public could play the role in monitoring the local newspapers. We can complain to the related government department or the editor about the irresponsible reports. On the other hand, the related staff of government section or newspapers should handle the complaints carefully and make improvement if necessary.

    Another effective way to improve the credibility of newspapers is not to buy the newspapers that have lots of irresponsible reports. Unfortunately, many Hongkongers would not do this as they have read those newspapers for long.

    In short, reporters should have the freedom of press, but they have to monitor themselves and improve the quality of the newspapers. And, I hope that the readers will only like to read the local newspapers that report the news accurately and ethically in the future.