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Freedom of the Press What's this about democratic reforms? Some say Governor Chris Patten's democratic reforms were too little, too late. Only the pages of history will reveal whether British policy has been good for Hong Kong, but in mass media circles there is evidence that the government has not done all it can in the way of reforms. Most readers probably heard the governor himself oppose the proposed Freedom of Information Act, for example. But this is a mere footnote to the complete story, a story that cannot be told in a space as small as this. One very small step the government could take — an act that would go almost unnoticed by most people — would be to abolish the Newspaper Regisration Office. When I founded Varsity in 1993, I had to register all our “particulars” with that office. The process required photocopies of the identity cards of the editor, the manager of the printing company, myself and others, as well as the business license of the printing company. We also had to supply addresses and telephone numbers and signatures for everyone. For every issue, I am required to submit a signed copy of the magazine to the Newspaper Regisration Office for inspection by government officials. If I fail to do so, they send me stern letters. And whenever there is a significant change in the masthead, which occurs about two or three times per year, I have to file a “Change in Particulars” form. Each time, I have to pay fees for the paperwork. Recently I received an anonymous telephone call. A man inquired about our coverage of the Royal Hong Kong Police. Have we published any stories critical of the police force? he asked gruffly. No, we haven’t, I replied — I had not yet seen the story that runs on Pages 5-6 of this issue — and he abruptly rang off. Meanwhile, his blunt line of questioning made me think how useful the Newspaper Registration Office would be in the hands of the wrong people. The 18th century American statesman Thomas Jefferson is often quoted as saying, “I would rather live in a country with newspapers and no government, than in a country with government and no newspapers.” The irony here is that Jefferson was referring of the British colonial governments in North America when he wrote that statement. In fact, the thread of authoritarianism in British press history can be traced as far back as 1534, when King Henry VIII issued a proclamation requiring the licensing of all books before they could be printed. I am not saying newspapers and magazines should not be registered as businesses for the purposes of taxation andother matters. I'm saying only that agencies such as the Newspaper Registration Office are one vestige of colonialism that the British government should be proud to eliminate — at least in the spirit of freedom of the press if for no other reason.
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January 1996