Sat, Sep 9, 2006 at 1:32 PM
It is quite unusual I write so much about social event in my busy time. I can’t resist the urge to write about what I consider is important to HK. Sorry, foreign friends, I guess you have to put up with you noisy friend.
Maybe a week or two ago, a magazine owned by One Media has publish a photo of a celebrity known as Twin(Not the neo-Nazist Twin in US) when she was changing in backstage. All take place while she was in a concrete in Malaysia.
Then the rivalry patriotic newspaper Oriental Daily begin an all out attack on this magazine and the associated enterprise in Hong Kong. (One Media own magazine in Taiwan, while the magazines of Oriental Daily could circulate freely within China.) Then, as expected, all of those whose image are damaged by this Media Group demonstarte, sign petition, boycott this magazine(and by association, all unethical newspaper own by this Media Group). This righteous movement is supported loudly by the most prominent Pro-Beijing political Party: Democracy Alliance for Betterment of Hong Kong. (Which shift gear so many times on their position of universal suffrage that it can qualify as position.) And the Oriental Daily, which known as ‘Righteous Newspaper’ because it proclaim this matter of fact daily in its editorial and commentaries daily, has a long track record of editing the news in accordance to Political Apprioateness. Of course, those who are in power, and the customer who pay for the advertisement CAN NEVER BE WRONG!
The Pro-Democratic Parties, due to its corrupted nature, can never produce any good news in this ‘Righteous Newspaper’ Thus this newspaper correctly represent the political situation in Hong Kong. Now, since One Media has long track record of the media outlet of ‘Rebellious and Unpatriotic’, and its magazine often contain photos resemble pornography in disguise of entertainment news. The Righteous Media Group, at this ‘averse’ situation unavoidable have to follow suit. This is quite unfortunate for the Media Group with the heart of people(Rich people are the most representative of all the public, doesn’t it?). And provide what the news which the crowd wanted is ‘The Righteous Responsibility of every media’. And despite the ‘best of effort’ by the patriotic Media Group, there is often wash-up entertainment news. The circulation figure in Hong Kong of the magazines from two rivalry Group appears to directly related to the entertainment value of the entertainment news. Hi, nowadays, who would buy magazine talk about current events? Hong Kong is being too ‘politicalized’ according to the great leader Wu.
The reality is, in terms of pornographically content, all magazines are not much differ from each other(if a careful study is conducted). The only exception is the patriotic Media Group continuously portray itself as ‘The Voice of the Righteous’, and attack the rival as the Voice of Evil. In terms of the quality of news with respect to ‘Opinion-Fact’ distinguish, most mainstream medias present ‘Opinionated Fact’. It is the news which sell newspaper, not fact nor neutrality. Everyone is buying the news which appease them the most.
Since 1997, there is a steady decline of the quality of the content on those magazines. There is a decline of ’serious news’ and investigation, and a rise of entertainment news. This is in according to the Beijing master plan to ‘depoliticalize’ the populace. Often or not, political news is often the most exciting and involving news in a modern society. Why? Because other than sports, this is the own permitted fight in modern society. And it is a sport that can participate by anyone.
And as the real innovation on the political system in Hong Kong, most political parties can only play the role of ‘Opposition Party’. Seldom does any party that propose and make real change that experience by the . Therefore, politics become purely war of words without any concrete action. Only the die-hards fans of politics still follow the political news. And the content about politics in every major media is shrinking as the public interest in that area is declining.
Media in a post-modern society has to produce amusement for the general public. And every citizen has a short attention span as well as fast adaptation. Therefore, it follow that violation of accepted ethic(taboo according to Freud) become the biggest driver of sales of magazine. Since there doesn’t exist a loyal customer base of each magazine, thus the magazines has to be outdone each other in its outrageous behavior. As the public is sick of seeing too much breasts and extramarital affairs, it then try to step across the only taboo: Age. The endless supply of younger and younger celebrity from Japan (Japan pop culture is dominate SE Asia culturally), which no longer to strike any nerve in their liberal heartland, found value in the conservative Hong Kong (Chinese media). Without the label of being untouchable, a magazine simply can’t sell. And almost all magazine has violate the norm of young porn once or twice, those remain on the top often recover their lost in legal proceeding by outsell other.
Go back to ‘Boycott One Media’ movement, it is clearly an attempt of by one Media Group to monopolize the newspaper media. Other than financial gain, the boss of the Media Group would increase its political clout, thus has more in table to negotiate with the ‘Mr. Master from the North’. And, as everyone understood who has the favor of the Northern Lord, it is both morale and advantageous to lash out on the minority in the media. To conform my thought: When Jackie Chan interviewed by a reporter from Cable News, fail to produce an answer when asked by a reporter from Cable News to the question: ‘Why Boycott One Media only, but not ALL magazines contain those contain those ‘Bad-Taste’ material?’
Silence is golden! This silence speak louder than any public outcry.
Tags: celebrity, China, current affair, entertainment, Hong Kong, logic, media, newspaper, One Media Group, Oriential Daily, politics, social movement
