Licence denial shows ATV is no pro-Beijing stooge
Michael Chugani says Exco's decision to deny the struggling station a licence has busted the myth of its pro-Beijing credentials
Finally, I am able to write about ATV without having to declare an interest. The Executive Council's decision to kill the station means I can speak my mind about the broadcaster's sorry saga even though I now freelance for rival TVB. Does ATV deserve to die? Yes, but only because mainland investor Wong Ching, the de facto owner, has so mutilated the once-proud station with his bizarre leadership that it's beyond saving. The long-suffering staff is totally blameless for ATV's tortuous death.
Wong led with a mainland mindset, trusting only relatives and close aides whom he appointed to key positions. He could not understand why, as the investor who pumped hundreds of millions into the ailing broadcaster, he was still barred by Hong Kong's licensing rules from running the station.
But he still did. From a spacious ATV office, he gave orders to his relative and executive director James Shing Pan-yu, even though, as an investor, he was not allowed an executive role. A furious Communications Authority finally fined ATV HK$1 million and ordered Shing's ouster for breaching licensing terms.
Now that Exco has sounded the death knell, let's expose the hypocrisy surrounding ATV. We have all heard the myth, fanned by the democracy camp, that ATV is so pro-Beijing that it practised self-censorship. The myth remained even when the Broadcasting Authority, predecessor of the Communications Authority, fined ATV HK$300,000 for wrongly reporting the death of former president Jiang Zemin . Would a pro-Beijing station dare run such a story without official confirmation?
Legislator Claudia Mo Man-ching was particularly hostile towards ATV, demanding its death while advocating a TV licence for Ricky Wong Wai-kay, the darling of the democracy camp. Why a licence for one necessitates the death of the other, I don't know. She cared little for the 700 ATV staff who would lose jobs.
When ATV reported that Ricky Wong would buy the station, Mo and other ecstatic democrats cheered. When Ricky Wong denied the claim but another buyer expressed interest, the cheers died. The Hong Kong Journalists Association was more concerned about media freedom being possibly harmed by TVB's monopoly than about the welfare of 700 jobless media workers. Unionist legislator Lee Cheuk-yan, the self-styled defender of workers' rights, showed no interest in the plight of the ATV staff.
The biggest myth was that Beijing and Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying would never allow ATV to die. That's why Leung delayed a licence decision: so that ATV would have time to find a buyer. Well, now we know differently. The Exco delay was to avoid disruption to TV services, grant ATV's plea for a last chance to restructure, save 700 jobs, and to seek legal advice on the fallout of ending a TV licence.
If Beijing had wanted to save ATV at all costs, as the democracy camp claimed, it would have arm-twisted someone to buy the station, whatever the price, long before its plight became such a farce. But enough of myths and hypocrisy. Let's salute the ATV staff who soldiered on in the face of public mockery and salary delays.
