2.9
TO FORM AN IMPRESSION OF THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE RESPONSE IT IS NECESSARY, BEFORE QUANTIFYING THE RESPONSE, TO DESCRIBE AND TO ANALYSE THE BACKGROUND TO THE SOURCES FROM
WHICH THE VIEWS HAVE BEEN RECEIVED.
2.10
(A) THE MEDIA
N
HONG KONG, HAVING ONE OF THE HIGHEST NEWSPAPER READERSHIPS IN ASIA, HAS A FLOURISHING FREE PRESS, AND IS THE SOUTHEAST ASIA BASE FOR MANY NEWSPAPERS, MAGIZINES AND NEWS AGENCIES. OF THE MANY CHINESE-LANGUAGE DAILIES (TOTALLING 70), SOME 30 PAPERS COVER NEWS AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS. OF THESE, A DOZEN PAPERS WITH AN ESTIMATED TOTAL DAILY READERSHIP OF ABOUT TWO MILLION PEOPLE COVER DISCUSSIONS ON THE WHITE PAPER. APART FROM THE REGIONAL MAGAZINES SUCH AS ASIAWEEK
AND THE FAR EASTERN ECONOMIC REVIEW, THERE ARE ALTOGETHER 459
PERIODICALS, AND OF THESE, TWENTY ARE DEVOTED MAINLY TO NEWS AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS. THERE ARE 10 RADIO CHANNELS IN HONG KONG WITH TERRITORY WIDE COVERAGE. THE TWO ENFRANCHISED COMMERCIAL WIRELESS BROADCASTING STATIONS, TELEVISION BROADCASTS LTD (TVB) AND ASIA TELEVISION LTD (ATV) TRANSMIT A DAILY AVERAGE OF 70 HOURS OF PROGRAMMES. WITH MORE THAN 93% OF HOUSEHOLDS OWNING ONE OR MORE TELEVISION SETS, THE TWO STATIONS REACH AN ESTIMATED 4.8 MILLION VIEWERS. A POPULAR PROGRAMME CAN ATTRACT AS MANY AS 2.4 MILLION VIEWERS.
2.11
THE COVERAGE OF THE DRAFT AGREEMENT, HAS BEEN WIDESPREAD AND SUSTAINED. VIRTUALLY EVERY MAJOR NEWSPAPER, MAGAZINE, PERIODICAL AND THE ELECTRONIC MEDIA, HAS COVERED THE MAIN AND SPECIFIC ISSUES IN THE DRAFT AGREEMENT. THERE IS LITTLE QUESTION THAT THE MEDIA NETWORK HAS MADE A MAJOR CONTRIBUTION TOWARDS THE GENERAL PUBLIC'S BROAD UNDERSTANDING OF THE DRAFT AGREEMENT ITSELF AND OF
GENERAL REACTION TO IT.
2.12
THE OFFICE MONITORED AND ASSESSED 273 REPORTS OF DISCUSSIONS, DEBATES, SEMINARS, PUBLIC SPEECHES AND INTERVIEWS: 201 EDITORIALS: 416 FEATURE ARTICLES AND 104 LETTERS TO THE PRESS ON THE WHITE PAPER FROM A TOTAL OF EIGHT ENGLISH AND 25 CHINESE NEWSPAPERS AND MAGAZINES. THIS FIGURE
DOES NOT INCLUDE A LARGE NUMBER OF NEWS REPORTS WHICH WERE ALSO MONITORED. THE OFFICE ALSO ASSESSED 55 HOURS OF PUBLIC
AFFAIRS PROGRAMMES ON TELEVISION AND RADIO (3).
(B) MAJOR REPRESENTATIVE BODIES
-11-
SECRET
12.13.
1