Public satisfaction with press freedom in Hong Kong dips

This is despite an increase in the general credibility rating of the news media, according to a public opinion programme at the University of Hong Kong.

1,038 people in Hong Kong were interviewed between 5 and 10 September 2011 by means of a telephone survey.

Results of the survey showed that on a scale of 0-10, the latest credibility rating of the Hong Kong news media stood at 6.29 marks, up from 6.03 before. 68 per cent believed the local news media had given full play to the freedom of speech, but 57 per cent said they had misused or abused press freedom. 

Thus, only 58 per cent said they are happy with the state of press freedom, a drop of 10 percentage points from the last poll in April. This change has gone beyond sampling errors at the survey's 95 per cent confidence level, meaning that they are considered statistically significant. Comparatively speaking, the satisfaction rate was at 73 per cent one year ago.

Furthermore, 20 per cent of interviewees expressed outright dissatisfaction with the current situation, up from April's figure of 13 per cent. 46 per cent of the respondents thought local news media practised self-censorship while 29 per cent thought they had scruples when criticising the HKSAR government.

Robert Ting-Yiu Chung, director of the university's programme, observed that the existence of self-censorship is still the main view among people appraising the press in the territory.