Do we also have Hong Kong’s scars of media melees?

Does the concerns made by Hong Kong legislator Albert Cheng King-hon in this article sound very much like the problem we have here in the Philippine media?

“The media (have) the right to act as a check and balance on the government and society at large,” the legislator wrote in the October 28 issue of the South China Morning Post. “However, publishing scandalous or sensational stories without any basis — and before thorough investigation — is an abuse of the media’s rights. It is high time this unscrupulous approach to reporting was abandoned.”

The scars of media melees
Hong Kong legislator Albert Chen says undue media sensationalism should be brought to account
South China Morning Post
Saturday, October 28, 2006
By Albert Cheng

My debate with Liberal Party chairman James Tien Pei-chun last week unexpectedly hit the headlines. We had exchanged views over the recent vote for the chairmanship of the legislature’s Finance Committee, which was contentious because some pro-government lawmakers betrayed the pro-government candidate.

It is not uncommon for the local press to resort to sensational reporting to boost circulation. But it does not make much sense to run front-page stories that have nothing to do with public interest.

Another example of media sensationalism is the obsession with scandal and the private lives of people in the public eye, or in positions of responsibility. People’s private lives should remain just that: private — unless they have taken advantage of their public position in some way.

Magazines and newspapers that publish such stories infringe upon people’s right to privacy, and should be brought to account.

Read more here.

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