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


Press Release on November 22, 2005
 

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 local news media. According to our general practice, all figures have been weighted according to the gender-age distribution of the Hong Kong population obtained from the 2001 Population Census, and are summarized as follows:

 
  Date of survey  14-16/2/05   9-12/5/05   5-9/8/05   9-13/11/05   Latest change 
  Sample base  1,024   1,004   1,001   1,016   -- 
  Overall response rate  65.2%   62.6%   61.0%   64.1%   -- 
  Sampling error of percentages (at 95% confidence level)*  +/- 3%   +/- 3%   +/- 3%   +/- 3%   -- 
  Sampling error of rating (at 95% confidence level)*  +/- 0.12   +/- 0.10   +/- 0.10   +/- 0.10   -- 
  Credibility rating of the local news media in general  6.05   5.92   5.81   6.08   +0.27 
  Freedom of the press in HK: Satisfaction rate**  58%   56%   53%   57%   +4% 
  Freedom of the press in HK: Dissatisfaction rate**  12%   11%   13%   12%   -1% 
  Perceived the local news media to be responsible in their reporting**  25%   25%   20%   25%   +5% 
  Perceived the local news media to be irresponsible in their reporting**  31%   32%   34%   32%   -2% 
  Perceived that the local news media had given full play to the freedom of speech  69%   64%   64%   65%   +1% 
  Perceived that the local news media had not given full play to the freedom of speech  20%   22%   26%   24%   -2% 
  Perceived that the local news media had misused/abused the freedom of press  59%   63%   66%   60%   -6% 
  Perceived that the local news media had not misused/abused the freedom of press  27%   23%   20%   27%   +7% 
  Perceived that the local news media had practised self-censorship  43%   39%   40%   48%   +8% 
  Perceived that the local news media had not practised self-censorship  39%   39%   40%   37%   -3% 
  Perceived that the local news media had scruples when criticizing the HKSAR Government  23%   27%   32%   34%   +2% 
  Perceived that the local news media had no scruples when criticizing the HKSAR Government  68%   65%   60%   58%   -2% 
  Perceived that the local news media had scruples when criticizing the Central Government  56%   54%   60%   62%   +2% 
  Perceived that the local news media had no scruples when criticizing the Central Government  32%   33%   28%   27%   -1% 

* "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 early November showed that, on a scale of 0-10, the latest credibility rating of the Hong Kong news media in general was 6.08 marks. Moreover, 57% 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, 65% believed the local news media had given full play to the freedom of speech, but 60% said they had misused or abused the freedom of press. Besides, 48% of the respondents thought the local news media had practised self-censorship while 37% perceived the contrary, 34% thought they had scruples when criticizing the HKSAR Government, whereas 62% thought they had scruples when criticizing the Central Government.

 

Robert Ting-Yiu Chung, Director of Public Opinion Programme, observed, "The credibility rating of the local news media on the whole has increased significantly over the last three months, while people's satisfaction with the freedom of the press and those who said the media has behaved responsibly in producing stories have both increased slightly. People's general evaluation, however, still remains two-sided, as most people believe that the media has given full play to the freedom of speech, but has also abused that freedom some of the times. On the other hand, the number of respondents who said the media practices self-censorship has significantly increased, mainly because they thought the media has become apprehensive when criticizing the Central Government."

 

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 November 29, 2005, Tuesday, at 2 pm, the latest popularity figures of CE Donald Tsang and HKSAR Government 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.