At the Council's meeting on 21st March 1978, Sir Y. K. Kan mentioned that there was some feeling that the style of the announcement for lotteries results and associated information by the media encouraged gambling'. It is intended to further examine this statement in paragraphs 36-38.
36
It is understood that the policy of the Hong Kong Lotteries Board is to keep low key publicity on the lotteries and that apart from simple and straightforward result announce- ments which are carried as news items and factual advertise- ments, no deliberate attempt has been made to advertise the sale of lottery tickets. The results are conveyed to the media through the Government Information Services in the attached forms at Annex D; the Board also advertises in certain local newspapers in the manner outlined at Annex E. Although
there is, occasionally, coverage in the newspapers on the
size of the jackets accumulated, it is felt that such coverage is generally no more than normal news stories.
37
A number of Chinese-language newspapers, particularly the smaller ones, devote some of their columns on the lotteries by analysing the more popular numbers based on the results of previous draws. Though these columns must have a contributory effect on the popularity of the lotteries, it would not be logical to prohibit such coverage by legislation without, at the same time, applying the same prohibition in respect of horse racing in Hong Kong and greyhound racing in Macao. In this connection, the Director of Information Services has advised that any attempt to interfere, by legal menas, with the way the press handles gambling would be counter-productive. Gambling, horse racing, etc results are news topics and the press presents information about them in a way which it believes its readership likes. Some newspapers give gambling and racing results routine coverage only. Consequently, any attempt to restrict the freedom of the press in publishing what it wished would arouse considerable criticism, both locally and
overseas.
38
The radio stations simply announce the drawn numbers. As far as the television stations are concerned, lottery information is restricted to occasional news items giving results of each draw, mainly in their evening news reports on the day when the Mark Six lottery results are known. TVB announces the results verbally. with an accompaying picture of the numbers which have been drawn. But RTV broadcasts the lottery draw live at 2.02 p.m. when5′′.
CONFIDENTIAL #B