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COMMUNICATIONS AND THE MEDIA
In December, the board conducted its fourth biennial manpower survey on the mass media. It also began preparation of training programmes.
With an allocation of $200,000 from the council, the board continued to sponsor subsidised training courses for working journalists to upgrade journalistic standards, as a joint effort with teaching and training institutions.
During the year, courses were conducted for journalists on such topics as law, English oral and written communication skills, Putonghua, translation, reporting, editing, econo- mics and feature writing.
The annual journalism symposium, an intensive three-week modular course conducted by the board itself, was held in October-November.
Sound Broadcasting
There are 10 radio channels in Hong Kong - five operated by Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK), three by the Hong Kong Commercial Broadcasting Company, more popu- larly 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 72 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 regular financial reports during normal trading hours with round-up reports at 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. on trading days, 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. To meet the needs of the more mature audience, financial news is broadcast three times daily. The channel adopts a lively approach to civic education and community service. It helped promote major publicity campaigns 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 10th '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. A morning programme of news, information and guests entitled 'Hong Kong Today' was introduced daily between 7 a.m. and 10 a.m. 'Open Line', the channel's phone-in programme on Saturdays - from 8.30 a.m. to 10.30 a.m. - continued to be a valued link between the people of Hong Kong and the government. In addition, the weekly financial programme 'Money This Week' was