Journalists in Macau come out against growing censorship
Macau (AsiaNews/Agencies) – The Macau media market might be growing but censorship seems to be doing the same according to critics who are urging the government to stop meddling with press freedom.
The warning comes from the Macau Media Workers Association whose anger was fuelled by the government's handling of Chief Executive Edmund Ho Hau-wah's remarks on the Labour Day rally.
Only a government-owned television station was allowed to film Mr Ho's meeting with local journalists on May 4, and government information officials supervised the editing of the footage before it was released to other media.
In a strongly-worded statement issued on May 11, the association condemned “the Information Bureau's interference in press freedom and editorial independence”.
The bureau responded saying that it “absolutely” respected press freedom, noting that on “May 4, our staff went to Teledifusão de Macau only to obtain footage for use on the Information Bureau's website.”
For Macau Legislator José Coutinho, the editorial integrity of many local media has been tainted by government subsidies.
A media subsidy plan was launched in the December 1999 shortly after the former Portuguese colony was handed over to mainland China, but however controversial it was at the time it caused few ripples.
In fact, Mr Coutinho said that despite government subsidies the Portuguese-language press in Macau has remained largely independent—perhaps because of the long tradition of press freedom in Europe.
Macau's 500,000 residents are served by eight Chinese-language and three Portuguese-language daily newspapers, five Chinese-language and one Portuguese-language weekly, an English-language daily and dozens of magazines. A host of Hong Kong publications can also be bought in the city.
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13/09/2021 14:43
