Court hears appeals over satire show
The Court of Appeal on Wednesday held a hearing on appeals from the Communications Authority, and from the RTHK Programme Staff Union and the Journalists Association, relating to the now-defunct RTHK satirical programme "Headliner", and will hand down a verdict within nine months. At the centre of the controversy is a show aired in 2020 suggesting that medical staff faced a shortage of surgical masks during the early days of Covid-19 but police "had a lot of surplus". Another segment showed the host dressed in police uniform emerging from a trash can. The public broadcaster was later given a warning by the regulator, which said the show contained material denigrating or insulting to the police, failed to represent a broad range of views, and failed to ensure accuracy. The RTHK union and the Journalists Association filed a judicial review over the warning. In a judgement in 2021, the Court of First Instance ruled against the Communications Authority on its findings pertaining to accuracy and the range of views sought. But it said there was nothing wrong with the way the authority came to the conclusion that the show denigrated or insulted the police. During Wednesday's appeal hearing, Abraham Chan, representing the authority, said because of the segment on surgical marks, "it wouldn't be an unreasonable take" for some viewers to erroneously think that officers were hoarding masks. He also said RTHK should make "reasonable efforts" to ensure factual contents in personal view programmes are accurate, in compliance with the regulator's code on TV programme standards. The barrister representing the RTHK union and the Journalists Association, Jeffrey Tam, said the programme was merely exaggerating when it said the force "had a lot of surplus". After hearing the submissions, Chief Judge of the High Court, Jeremy Poon, reserved judgement and said the three-judge panel will give a ruling within nine months.