334 Communications, the Media and Information Technology
cover mainly local and overseas news, four specialise in finance and the rest cover horse racing. The larger papers include overseas Chinese communities in their distribution networks and some have editions printed outside Hong Kong, in particular in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia.
One of the English dailies publishes a daily Braille edition, in conjunction with the Hong Kong Society for the Blind, as well as an internet edition. One English daily and four bilingual dailies are published on the internet. Hong Kong is the base for a number of regional publications such as the Far Eastern Economic Review and business and trade magazines. The Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal Asia, USA Today International, International Herald Tribune and The Nihon Keizai Shimbun are printed in Hong Kong.
Several organisations represent people working in the news media in Hong Kong. The Newspaper Society of Hong Kong represents Chinese and English. newspaper proprietors. It is empowered to act in matters that affect the interests of its members.
The Hong Kong Journalists Association is the biggest industry-wide union of journalists and one of the most active. Formed in 1968, it has more than 400 members. It pays special attention to a range of press freedoms and ethics concerns as well as to professional training and the handling of labour disputes.
Other media organisations include the Hong Kong News Executives' Association, the Hong Kong Federation of Journalists and the Hong Kong Press Photographers Association. The long-established Foreign Correspondents' Club offers its members social facilities and a range of professional activities, including news conferences and briefings.
During the year, the Mass Communications Training Board of the Vocational Training Council continued to run training programmes to help people working in the media, advertising and public relations sectors to improve their skills with the co-operation of various trade associations and professional bodies such as the Hong Kong News Executives' Association, the Hong Kong Advertisers Association, the Hong Kong Public Relations Professionals' Association, the Hong Kong Journalists Association and the Hong Kong Federation of Journalists.
Information Policy
The Secretary for Home Affairs has overall responsibility for policy formation on information and related matters, while the Director of Information Services advises the Government on the presentation of its policies, and on public relations matters generally, in Hong Kong and overseas. The main aims are to ensure an open exchange of information in the community, to keep the media fully informed of government plans, policies and activities, and to promote Hong Kong's image abroad.