COMMUNICATIONS AND THE MEDIA
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institutions, covering such topics as law, English oral communication skills, Putonghua, translation, reporting, editing, economics and feature writing, with the aim of upgrading journalistic standards.
The annual journalism symposium, an intensive three-week course conducted by the board itself, was held again in May-June.
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 Service (BFBS).
Policy guidelines for RTHK require the publicly-financed station to provide balanced and objective broadcasting services to inform, educate and entertain the people of Hong Kong. The 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 700 hours a week and operates a 24-hour service in Chinese and English. The most recent independent survey showed that the total number of radio listeners was 75 per cent of the population aged nine and above. The station has developed an individual identity for each of its five channels.
Radio 1 of the Chinese Service provides news bulletins and summaries on a half-hourly basis between 6 a.m. and 11 p.m. and hourly throughout the night. It also broadcasts financial reports every hour during the day, in addition to traffic reports during rush hours. During the year, major political and social events in the territory were covered extensively. In addition, the channel's phone-in programmes served to reflect the public's sentiments on various current issues. With the interim FM plan in operation, it now relays Legislative Council meetings on its FM service every Wednesday, while continuing the normal programmes on the AM service.
Radio 2 has acquired popularity as a channel mainly for young people. Although popular music is the salient feature, more magazine programmes have been introduced. During the year, the channel continued to strengthen its early morning and late evening magazine programmes to attract an even broader audience. The channel adopts a lively approach to civic education and community service. It helped promote major publicity campaigns concerning the International Year of Peace, as well as anti-narcotics and fight crime efforts, and also organised a number of large-scale fund-raising activities. In its continuing effort to promote local music talent, the channel also organised its ninth "Top Ten Chinese Gold Songs' presentation.
Radio 3, the station's news and information channel for the English-speaking popula- tion, continued to cover both local and overseas events. ‘Open Line', the channel's phone-in programme between 8.15 a.m. and 10 a.m., continued to be a valued link between the people of Hong Kong and the government. During the year, the channel increased its emphasis on discussions and interviews in the programmes. In addition to the use of stories, comedies and quiz programmes from overseas and those produced locally, the coverage of events with specially arranged outside broadcasts continued. The channel also relayed the weekly meetings of the Legislative Council.
Radio 4, the channel for fine music and the arts, covered major music and arts events throughout the year. The bilingual presentation of these programmes was welcomed by listeners. In January, the channel organised the 1986 Young Player of Chinese Instruments