HKU POP SITE releases people's appraisal of local news mediaBack

The Public Opinion Programme (POP) at the University of Hong Kong today releases on schedule via the "HKU POP SITE" (http://hkupop.pori.hk) the latest figures of people's appraisal of the professionalism of the local news media. Some of the items are released online for the first time, they include whether people feel the media has scruples when criticizing the local and central governments, and whether people feel the media has practised self-censorship. Since 1993, POP has been tracking people's appraisal of the news media, including its general performance, overall credibility, how they make use of press freedom, and whether they practise self-censorship. Findings were at first released via our newsletter "POP Express", and then gradually moved to our "POP Site". The figures released today are all post-handover figures. As a general practice, they have been weighted according to census results. Recent figures are summarized as follows:

* "95% confidence level" means that if we were to repeat a certain survey 100 times, using the same questions each time but with different random samples, we would expect 95 times getting a figure within the error margins specified.
** Collapsed from a 5-point scale

Results of survey conducted in mid-February showed that, on a scale of 0-10, the latest credibility rating of the Hong Kong news media in general was 6.05 marks. Moreover, 58% of the respondents were satisfied with the freedom of the press in Hong Kong, 25% perceived the local news media to be responsible in their reporting, 69% believed the local news media had given full play to the freedom of speech, but 59% said they had misused or abused the freedom of press. Besides, 43% thought the local news media had practised self-censorship, 56% thought they had scruples when criticizing the Chinese Government, whereas only 23% thought they had scruples when criticizing the Hong Kong SAR Government.

Robert Ting-Yiu Chung, Director of Public Opinion Programme, observed, "People's rating of the overall credibility of the news media, as well as their satisfaction with Hong Kong's press freedom, have increased significantly over the past 3 months. However, their appraisal of the media's practice of press freedom continued to be two-sided. That the media have given full play to the freedom of speech, and that they have misused or abused press freedom, are both majority views, although the negative view has subsided somewhat over the last 3 months. Regarding the media's degree of responsibility and self-censorship, people's perception was divided, with slightly more people on the negative side. Many people felt that the media became apprehensive when criticizing the Central Government, but few thought that they became apprehensive when criticizing the SAR Government. This pattern has persisted since the handover."

POP's normal practice is to release the results of our regular surveys every Tuesday at 2 pm via our POP Site, except during public holidays, each time with a forecast of the items to be released in the forthcoming week. We will review and adjust this operation regularly. The date and time of our next release of regular survey findings will be March 1, 2005, Tuesday, at 2 pm, when we will release the latest popularity figures of CE Tung Chee-hwa and the HKSAR Government. Then, on March 3, 2005, Thursday, at 2 pm, the latest results of people's trust in the HKSAR and Beijing Central Governments, their confidence in Hong Kong's future, China's future and "one country, two systems" will be released.

Shall anyone have any question regarding the research design of the surveys published in the POP Site, members of the POP Team will be happy to answer them, but we will not further comment on the findings. Shall any person or journalist have any other questions, please email them to us at <[email protected]>. The Director of Public Opinion Programme would answer them as soon as possible. We will keep such an arrangement under constant review, suggestions most welcome. Please note that everything carried in the POP Site does not represent the stand of the University of Hong Kong. Dr Robert Ting-Yiu Chung, Director of Public Opinion Programme, is responsible for everything posted herewith, except for column articles which represent the stand of their authors.