Jace Au: Questions to the candidates
The Government has made a strange move yesterday (20 Feb 2008) by lowering the entry requirements for the post of Director of Broadcasting and aroused controversy among the public. The move is so strange to a degree that when read more carefully, it actually has lowered the academic qualification to NIL as long as the candidates possess enough experience.
This move has led to a natural doubt that the Government has to alter the requirements to fit their already chosen “candidate”. It is double-misfortune as it has damaged not only the credibility of this open recruitment but also the legitimacy of the ultimate successful “candidate” to lead RTHK, whoever this person is.
To save the Government from such political suspicion and reassure the public that this is a genuine open recruitment instead of a political appointment, this second-round recruitment needs to be performed in a more transparent manner. The candidates this time should be put forward to the testing questions in front of the public as follows:
Do these candidates have:
- a track record practising independent journalism?
- a track record running a public service broadcasting organization or media of a similar sort?
- an obvious pro or anti government stand/ image which might be seen as biased by the public?
- an obvious pro or anti market stand/ image which might be seen as biased by the public?
- an obvious pro or anti attitude towards any big political or civil groups which might be seen as biased by the public?
- any close personal or business relationship with big institutional powers?
All of the above testing questions are for one purpose only: to ensure that the successful candidate has the experience and ability to withstand the pressure and resist interferences asserted by various political, economic and social powers in order to protect the public’s right to be informed as fully as possible, despite the fact that the recruitment process has begun with a suspicious move.