The news industry in Hong Kong bears a heavy social responsibility, the city’s leader has said, stressing that only those with bad intentions will pick quarrels instead of simply raising questions.
“Everyone can raise questions and make comments, but there is a difference between raising questions and provoking quarrels,” he said. “The difference between commentating and smearing is even bigger, this is the difference between good intentions and bad intentions.
“It is the difference between exerting effort to be constructive and exerting effort to be destructive, it is the difference between working for the good of society and personal benefits. The news industry bears heavy social responsibilities.”
Lee also discussed how technology had advanced multimedia content in the news media and how the industry closely followed the development of AI.
“But no matter how advanced technology gets to the point where it can replace humans or how advanced AI becomes, one thing cannot be replaced and that is societal morals,” he said.
“Professional news reports must adhere to media ethics, which demand fairness and neutrality, as well as adherence to the facts.”
The city leader said the industry must ensure it practised professional ethics and provided readers with complete information and unbiased reports.
The Post this year won six prizes at the annual Hong Kong News Awards in the categories of Best News Writing (English), Best Headline (English), Best Business News Writing (English), Best News Page Design (Single Page) and Best News Page Design (Series).
Post editor-in-chief Tammy Tam said the annual awards not only recognised the professionalism of Hong Kong journalists, but also highlighted the value of journalism for the city on the international stage.
“Trustworthy, accurate, responsible reporting is more important than ever in this difficult operating environment for news media companies,” she said.
“As Hong Kong’s newspaper of record and global multimedia news platform, the Post is doing its part, especially in the international language of English, and it’s gratifying that our journalists’ work in this regard is appreciated.”
The annual awards by the Newspaper Society of Hong Kong strive to recognise the outstanding achievements of journalists and raise professional standards.
The Post was among the newspapers that founded the society in 1954.
The awards consist of four sections – reporting, writing, photography and design – with a total of 18 categories.
