***********************************************************
The following is issued on behalf of the Broadcasting Authority:
In the month of December, the Broadcasting Authority (BA) received a total of 206 complaints about television and radio broadcasting services. The number of complaints decreased by 18.9% compared with the figure in November (254 complaints) (Figure 1).
The top three complaint cases with the largest numbers of complaints received in December were the television programmes "News at 6.30", "Marriage of Inconvenience" and "Infolink" respectively. The main substance of the complaints about "News at 6.30" was that one of the news reports on an industrial accident was unnerving, unsuitable for broadcast and disrespectful of the dead and his relatives, etc. In relation to "Marriage of Inconvenience", the main substance of the complaints was that the content was violent, frightening, of a bad theme and had a bad influence on adults and children. Regarding "Infolink", the main substance of the complaints was that the factual content provided in the programme was inaccurate and misleading. These three cases constituted 4.3% (nine complaints), 2.9% (six complaints) and 2.9% (six complaints) respectively of the total number of complaints received in December (Figure 2).
In 2007, the BA had received a total of 2,992 complaints as at the end of December.
The BA has, in accordance with the relevant statutory provision, delegated its power to the Commissioner for Television and Entertainment Licensing to deal with complaints which do not involve any breach of legislation, licence conditions or codes of practice, or which fall outside section 11 of the Broadcasting Authority Ordinance (BAO). Complaints which fall within section 11 of the BAO are processed by the Broadcasting Authority Complaints Committee, with a view to making recommendations to the BA.
As at December 2007, the BA had dealt with 28 cases. Among them, 11 cases were justified. The BA issued one minor breach, six pieces of advice, and four pieces of strong advice to the relevant broadcasters regarding the breaches.
Ends/Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Issued at HKT 16:45
NNNN