tim's experiment

It is, or should be, a commonplace of journalists’ education that there is always more than one way of doing a story. There may be a better or worse, but as long as the facts are accurate there is no one right way or wrong way.

Having said which, sometimes the differences look a bit suspicious. On Sunday there was a protest in Tsimshatsui by people who want the number of mainland visitors curtailed or at least limited. This is an understandable sentiment: tourism as an industry makes a lot of money for a few people and inconveniences a great many others. On the other hand the issue has become something of a political litmus test: people taking this view tend to wave the old colonial flag and their opponents to wave the mainland five-star one.

The Standard had the story on its front page. The Post’s much larger front page was filled with China stories. According to Standard reporter Kelly Ip the protesters, who numbered about 100, gathered outside the Star Ferry pier and in that vicinity were confronted by several dozen members of the two pro-Beijing groups which specialise in street thuggery, the Defend Hong Kong Campaign and the Voice of Loving Hong Kong. A disorderly scene ensued, until the police separated the two groups with crowd barriers. The protest then proceeded as planned down Canton Road.

This is not the story as told by the Post’s Ng Kang-chung. Mr Ng’s version of the start of the march was “The march got off to a tense start when scuffles broke out between protesters and people opposed to the demonstration. Police had to intervene.” What, no idea who these people are at all?

Apparently not. Mr Ng, however, did find the Voice of Loving Hong Kong later; they staged a “rival ‘welcome to Hong Kong’ campaign on Canton Road. About 10 members distributed leaflets…” Interesting that he was not curious about the patriotic person in the Post’s picture, who is confronting a young man in a Brazil football shirt brandishing an anti-locust poster. The confronting person is wearing a mask. Not, I fancy, for medical reasons.

I would like to believe that this was all just coincidence. Maybe Mr Ng was a bit late on the scene and picked up the early action from other reporters. But it smells a bit off. We expect the Post to worship the Chinese government. That is its habit. Presenting the Voice of Loving Hong Kong as a bunch of pacifist leaflet distributors when they have just enjoyed provoking a good punch-up is going much further. We no longer expect balance from the Post. It would still be nice to have accuracy.