Press on, even if you cannot win: Raymond Roy Wong, Hong Kong’s ‘godfather of journalism’, urges the city’s reporters not to censor themselves
- Wong described the national security law as ‘draconian’, but told journalism practitioners not to lose hope
- He was speaking alongside two Post reporters, who were granted Baptist University fellowships sponsored by a HK$50 million donation he made
It is not in Hong Kong’s or Beijing’s interests to live without free press, retired veteran journalist Raymond Roy Wong has said, urging reporters not to censor themselves despite what he called an existing “draconian” law.
In a seminar on Tuesday on the future of the city’s media sector, 84-year-old Wong said reporters should not lose hope after Beijing imposed the national security law on the city two years ago.
“For [journalism] practitioners, we’re still making a living, punching the computer or whatever or shooting pictures, just do it as you used to do [and] don’t censor yourself because you cannot win,” he said. “Where there is a will, there is hope.”
Wong, a professor at Hong Kong Baptist University, was popularly known as the godfather of journalism in local media circles, and retired in 2004 as the assistant general manager of Television Broadcasts.
Themed “Journalism in Hong Kong: Lights Out?”, the round table aimed to discuss how recent changes in the city’s politics, economy and technology had shaped press freedom, especially against the backdrop of the proposed regulations of Article 23 of the city’s mini-constitution and on false news.
“I would like to think that there are no governments at the SAR level or at the national level in Beijing that want Hong Kong to live without a free press,” Wong said, speaking alongside two members of the Post’s newsroom.