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Hong Kong Connection

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Hong Kong Connection
GenreCurrent affairs documentary[1]
Country of originHong Kong
Original languagesChinese[2]
English[3]
Production
ProducerRTHK
Running timeAbout 30 minutes (with advertising)[4]
Original release
ReleaseMarch 12, 1978 (1978-03-12) –
present

Hong Kong Connection (Chinese: 鏗鏘集), formerly The Common Sense, is a long-running news documentary television programme produced by Hong Kong public broadcaster RTHK. It mainly covers Hong Kong politics, economics, education, disadvantaged, environmental protection, mainland China affairs, international affairs, etc. The programme premiered on 5 March 1978.[5][6][7]

History

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Evolution of programs

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At an early stage, Hong Kong Connection consisted mainly of drama components. After several reforms, the program turned into a documentary-like current events program.[8]

In 2017, RTHK released a 60 episodes program in Chinese called The record of eras - Hong Kong Connection (The first episode and episode 51 are missing).[9][10][11] The program reviewed the history of Hong Kong using the thousands of stories from Hong Kong Connection, which has launched for more than 30 years.[9][10]

On 29 July 2019, Hong Kong Connection broadcast 721 Yuen Long Nightmare, introducing what happened in 2019 Yuen Long attack. In the program, Hong Kong Connection's reporters reconstructed the timeline of the attack through collecting the CCTV footage dated 21 July 2019.[12][13] (video deleted, saved in Internet Archive) The video received more than 3 million views (Chinese version).[12]

Controversies

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Arrest of journalist investigating 2019 Yuen Long attack

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Main article: 2019 Yuen Long attack § Arrest of investigative journalist

On 3 November 2020, the police arrested freelance journalist Choy Yuk-ling, who filmed a Hong Kong Connection episode about the 2019 Yuen Long attack. She was charged with misusing a government vehicle licensing database and making false statements to obtain information and records about car owners[14][15] after trying to discover the owners of a few vehicles suspected of supplying weapons to the attackers who launched an indiscriminate attack on scores of people. The owners of cars were identified as rural village leaders. She checked a box to declare that the vehicle registration searches were for "other traffic and transport related matters". Other options available when accessing the database are "legal proceedings" and "sale and purchase of vehicle". While the previously available option "other purposes" had been scrapped, the magistrate said that Choy should have considered other means to obtain the information.[16] The police dismissed allegations that the arrest was an attack on press freedom.[15] Choy was found guilty on 22 April 2021 and fined HK$6,000.[17] The Foreign Correspondents Club on 22 April strongly criticised the verdict as setting a "dangerous precedent" for "legal action against journalists for engaging in routine reporting".[18]

Censorship

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Following the 2019-2020 protests, the pro-Beijing camp and the government have attacked RTHK, accusing the station of bias. A new director of broadcasting, Patrick Li, took charge of RTHK in March 2021. The broadcaster has seen an exodus of senior staff, and censorship of RTHK documentaries has been on the rise. In May 2021, it was announced that old episodes of RTHK programmes would be deleted from the Internet, including old episodes of Hong Kong Connection.[19]

In May 2021, it was reported that RTHK management had rejected proposed new episodes on the 2019 Yuen Long attack and Hong Kong commemorations of the Tiananmen Square massacre. Paul Lee Yin-chit, who headed production of Hong Kong Connection, subsequently resigned from RTHK.[20][21]

Deletion of online videos

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On 3 May 2021, numerous videos on the RTHK YouTube and Facebook pages, including episodes of Hong Kong Connection, were deleted. The deleted videos were all uploaded more than a year ago, and included 721 Yuen Long Nightmare.[22] A spokesperson for RTHK stated the measure aligned the policy of its social media platforms with its website, where only programmes from the past 12 months are viewable.[23][24] However, the RTHK Programme Staff Union considered the videos as the common property of Hongkongers, criticising the removal of videos as 'unreasonable' and 'unnecessary'.[25][26]

Awards

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  • Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union commendation, 1983 – for episode Nurses in Hongkong[27]
  • International Film and Television Festival of New York, Silver Medal, 1983 – for episode Vietnamese Refugees[28][27]
  • Human Rights Press Award, 2021 – for episode 7.21 Who Owns the Truth[29]

References

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  1. ^ "Podcast One: Hong Kong Connection - Historic Treasure Hunt". Archived from the original on 2021-05-07. Retrieved 2021-05-06 – via podcast.rthk.hk.
  2. ^ "Podcast: 文革五十年(下)". August 1, 2016. Archived from the original on 2016-08-01.
  3. ^ "Podcasts: Hong Kong Connection". January 7, 2016. Archived from the original on 2016-01-07.
  4. ^ "Top producer at embattled documentary series Hong Kong Connection quits RTHK - source". Hong Kong Free Press HKFP. May 6, 2021. Archived from the original on May 13, 2021. Retrieved May 13, 2021.
  5. ^ "香港電台電視 Hong Kong Connection". www.rthk.hk. Archived from the original on 2021-05-02. Retrieved 2021-05-02.
  6. ^ "鏗鏘集 (Hong Kong Connection) - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Archived from the original on 2021-05-09. Retrieved 2021-05-02.
  7. ^ "Top producer at embattled documentary series Hong Kong Connection quits RTHK - source". Hong Kong Free Press HKFP. 2021-05-06. Archived from the original on 2021-05-13. Retrieved 2021-05-13.
  8. ^ 鏗鏘集：鏗鏘四十關鍵詞：尋回‧青春記憶, archived from the original on 2019-07-01, retrieved 2021-05-03
  9. ^ a b Podcast One: 時代的記錄 鏗鏘集 - 第十五集「時代的記錄－鏗鏘集」《鏗鏘集》2009年《觀塘重建帶來的幾點啟示》2013年《重建輓歌》 (in Chinese (Hong Kong)), archived from the original on 2021-05-03, retrieved 2021-05-03
  10. ^ a b "香港電台網站 : 電視|時代的記錄 鏗鏘集". 2017-03-13. Archived from the original on 2017-03-13. Retrieved 2021-05-03.
  11. ^ "時代的記錄 鏗鏘集 - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Archived from the original on 2021-05-03. Retrieved 2021-05-03.
  12. ^ a b "【有種紀錄 叫鏗鏘】721 元朗黑夜 《鏗鏘集》網上總瀏覽人次衝354萬 (21:46) - 20190803 - SHOWBIZ". 明報OL網 (in Traditional Chinese). Archived from the original on 2021-05-03. Retrieved 2021-05-03.
  13. ^ "Hong Kong Connection：721 Yuen Long Nightmare - YouTube". YouTube. Archived from the original on 29 August 2020. Retrieved 2021-05-04.
  14. ^ Ramzy, Austin; Yu, Elaine (2020-11-03). "Hong Kong Journalist Arrested After Investigating Police Misconduct". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 2021-05-09. Retrieved 2021-05-09.
  15. ^ a b "A Hong Kong Journalist Exposed Alleged Police Misconduct. She Was Arrested". www.vice.com. 4 November 2020. Archived from the original on 2021-05-10. Retrieved 2021-05-09.
  16. ^ "RTHK's Bao Choy found guilty over Yuen Long report - RTHK". news.rthk.hk. Archived from the original on 2021-05-11. Retrieved 2021-05-11.
  17. ^ Candice Chau (2021-04-22). "Hong Kong court fines journalist HK$6,000 for use of public records in documentary about police". Hong Kong Free Press HKFP. Archived from the original on 2021-05-12. Retrieved 2021-05-11.
  18. ^ "'Know your place': Beijing accuses Hong Kong press club of being 'external force' interfering in China's internal affairs". Hong Kong Free Press HKFP. 2021-04-26. Archived from the original on 2021-04-28. Retrieved 2021-05-11.
  19. ^ Cheng, Selina (3 May 2021). "Hong Kong broadcaster RTHK deletes shows over a year old from internet as viewers scramble to save backups". Hong Kong Free Press. Archived from the original on 23 June 2021. Retrieved 25 May 2021.
  20. ^ Cheng, Selina (6 May 2021). "Top producer at embattled documentary series Hong Kong Connection quits RTHK – source". Hong Kong Free Press. Archived from the original on 13 May 2021. Retrieved 13 May 2021.
  21. ^ Wang, Wallis (7 May 2021). "Producer quits over RTHK ban". The Standard. Archived from the original on 25 May 2021. Retrieved 25 May 2021.
  22. ^ "Hong Kong Broadcaster Fires Reporter, Deletes Critical Programs". Radio Free Asia. Archived from the original on 2021-06-18. Retrieved 2021-06-18.
  23. ^ Cheng, Selina (2021-05-03). "Hong Kong broadcaster RTHK deletes shows over a year old from internet as viewers scramble to save backups". Hong Kong Free Press HKFP. Archived from the original on 2021-06-23. Retrieved 2021-06-18.
  24. ^ "港台刪YouTube舊片 最少41《鏗鏘集》下架 - 20210504 - 港聞". 明報新聞網 - 每日明報 daily news (in Traditional Chinese). Archived from the original on 2021-05-12. Retrieved 2021-06-18.
  25. ^ "港台刪除YouTube節目重溫 包括鏗鏘集多集節目 - RTHK". news.rthk.hk (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Archived from the original on 2021-05-21. Retrieved 2021-06-18.
  26. ^ "清算港台︱即刪YouTube大量《鏗鏘集》涉警暴反送中 工會：影片乃港人財產 ｜ 蘋果日報". Apple Daily 蘋果日報 (in Chinese (Hong Kong)). Archived from the original on 2021-05-21. Retrieved 2021-06-19.
  27. ^ a b Girling, Barry (22 October 1984). "Chinese-in-London film goes in search of awards". South China Morning Post. p. 26.
  28. ^ "RTHK focus on awards". South China Morning Post. 16 November 1983. p. 24.
  29. ^ Ho, Kelly (6 May 2021). "RTHK's Yuen Long doc and BBC's Xinjiang reporting win Human Rights Press Awards". Hong Kong Free Press. Archived from the original on 25 May 2021. Retrieved 25 May 2021.
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