COMMUNICATIONS AND THE MEDIA
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papers also include Chinese communities overseas in their distribution networks, and some even have editions printed outside Hong Kong, in particular in Britain and the United States. Included in the English press are international papers with locally-printed editions - the Asian Wall Street Journal and the International Herald Tribune.
Hong Kong is the Southeast Asian base for many newspapers, magazines, news agencies and the electronic media. Among the international news agencies with offices in Hong Kong are Associated Press, Reuters, United Press International and Agence France Presse. Newsweek and Time magazines have editions printed in Hong Kong which is also the base for the regional magazines Asiaweek and the Far Eastern Economic Review.
Several organisations represent and cater for people working in the news media in Hong Kong. The Newspaper Society of Hong Kong represents Chinese and English newspapers. It is empowered to act in matters affecting the interests of its members. The Hong Kong Journalists' Association (HKJA) seeks to raise professional standards by recommending better training, pay and conditions in journalism, and advises its members in the event of disputes with employers. The Foreign Correspondents' Club offers its members social facilities and a range of professional activities, including news conferences, briefings and films. The Hong Kong Press Club provides an opportunity for journalists to meet socially. Major steps are being taken to expand and improve training in journalism, with the Journalism Training Board of the Vocational Training Council playing an important role. In April, the council allocated $100,000 to the Journalism Training Board towards in-service training courses, and as a result tertiary institutions were able to conduct five heavily subsidised upgrading courses for working journalists during the year. Also in 1983, a job specification guideline for the media was published.
Sound Broadcasting
There are 10 radio channels in Hong Kong. Five are operated by Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK), three by the Hong Kong Commercial Broadcasting Company, more popularly known as Commercial Radio (CR), and two by the British Forces Broadcasting Services (BFBS).
Policy guidelines for RTHK, which were reviewed and affirmed in June, require the publicly-financed station to provide balanced and objective broadcasting services to inform, educate and entertain the people of Hong Kong. Its aim is to serve the best interests of the community by providing impartial and balanced news and public affairs programmes reflecting accurately the views of both the government and the public. The Director of Broadcasting is its editor-in-chief.
RTHK now broadcasts a total of 700 hours per week and has a 24-hour service in both Chinese and English. The most recent independent survey showed that the total number of radio listeners was 72 per cent of the population aged nine and above. The station has developed the individual identity of each of its five channels.
Radio 1 of the Chinese service now provides news bulletins and summaries on a half-hourly basis between 6 a.m. and 11 p.m., and hourly throughout the night. It has strengthened its coverage on financial matters with reports broadcast every hour during the day. It has also expanded the production of programmes designed to encourage audience participation as well as community involvement, for instance promoting public awareness of district boards, industrial safety, and the dangers of smoking. Education programmes which incorporate language teaching, literature, history and health guidance are also major features. Towards the end of the year, two language courses leading to diplomas were introduced for the first time.