14
Press, Broadcasting and Cinema
THE year was one of dramatic events, and the Colony's information media were kept busy with the vital task of providing a rapid supply of accurate information. Radio, television stations and newspapers, provided full coverage on all important events. At the height of the disturbances radio stations were on the air for 24 hours a day. (The Information Services Department issued a flow of news releases and features informing people of the government's views and in- tentions. It also provided assistance to the many news correspondents who came to Hong Kong from all over the world to cover the disturbances.
PRESS
The Chinese and English language press in Hong Kong currently produce some 200 publications, including 44 Chinese and four English daily newspapers. It is estimated that, between them, the Chinese and English language newspapers have an overall circula- tion of some one-and-a-half-million copies a day. Some of the leading newspapers and magazines are listed in Appendix XXXIX. The English dailies are the South China Morning Post and its after- noon companion China Mail (which changed to a tabloid format during the year), the Hong Kong Standard and The Star. The Standard and The Star each publish a Sunday edition while the South China Morning Post, Limited, produces the Sunday Post-Herald. The Wah Kiu Yat Po, Sing Tao Jih Pao and the Kung Sheung Yat Po, generally regarded as the 'middle of the road' Chinese newspapers, give a comprehensive coverage of local and overseas news. Three communist daily newspapers and one weekly newspaper were suspended during the year, for publishing seditious material.
Chinese and English language newspapers are represented in the Newspaper Society of Hong Kong which has 17 members and three associate members. The society, formed in 1954, is empowered