You would have heard the saying: Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely. And that is why we always need a system of checks and balances for everything.

In Hong Kong, one of the obviously unchecked powers is the media, the so-called fourth estate. On the one hand, apart from RTHK, all media in Hong Kong are privately owned. And as commercial enterprises, they are there to maximize profit. As a result, our media are selling not what citizens are entitled to know, but what they want to know. Especially in our mainstream Chinese print media, important news, those that would affect our lives, are given only scant coverage, if any. Front page headlines, on the other hand, are devoted to stories concerning accidents, sex and violence. On the inside, trivia of all sorts; in short, infotainment.

On the other hand, the media have become self-appointed detectives, prosecutors and judges, all in the name of public interest. Paparazzi are a department common to most popular Chinese newspapers and magazines. They are entitled to stalk any private citizen remotely related to public affairs or some event in the news and interfere with their lives.

This bi-polar monster is basically unchecked. To our dissidents, this is their lethal weapon, and any attempt to curb the abuse of public media would be regarded as a frontal assault on freedom of speech and news freedom, which we all treasure.

Recently after the release of the policy address, even our Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yum-kuen and Secretary for the Environment Edward Yau Tang-wah both fell victim to media slander. They were accused of secretly passing advantages to their relatives in the new measures unveiled in the policy address. These allegations were of course totally fabricated.

After more than a fortnight of unceasing bombardment, ultimately Donald Tsang had to take the unprecedented move to deliver a personal rebuff to the media. This apparently proved not very effective, as the media has kept on as usual.

This nonsense cannot carry on or it will create trouble. Officials need to unite around the Chief Executive to fend off future harassment. Media, like any institutional power, have to be checked and balanced.

The author is a member of the Commission on Strategic Development

(HK Edition 11/03/2009 page1)