Citizens' Radio

Citizens' Radio
Citizen's radio on 13 January 2008 fighting for universal suffrage. Tsang Kin Shing on the left, Albert Chan on the right

Citizens' Radio (Chinese: 民間電台) is a radio station in Hong Kong established by pro-democracy camp figure Tsang Kin Shing (曾健成). The station is run as a non-profit organization. It started trial broadcasting on 3 October 2005 on 102.8 MHz FM. The regular broadcasting hours are 7:00 pm–8:00 pm from Monday to Friday. The programmes can be heard in parts of Hong Kong Island, most of Kowloon, and on the Internet.

Contents

Purpose

The principle of the station is "Be open and bravely speak out", so the main type of programming is a speech-based "phone-in" format. Sometimes Hong Kong legislators are invited as special guests. The station has also made live broadcasts of the Hong Kong 1 July marches and Vindicate 4 June and Relay Torch in the past.

Tsang has submitted an application for a sound broadcasting licence to the Broadcasting Authority, but the application is still pending. So technically speaking Citizens Radio's broadcasts are illegal. On 29 August 2006 with the court search warrant, the Office of the Telecommunications Authority forced the station to close down. But the station resumed broadcasting on 4 October 2006. The station has been repeatedly raided by the Telecommunications Authority since but it kept on broadcasting as a form of civil disobedience.

Citizens' Radio broadcast incident

Event

On 25 May 2007 Szeto Wah was speaking in a Mong Kok pedestrianised street hosted by Citizen's Radio. The topic of the programme involved the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.[1]

Szeto Wah:

I appeared as a guest speaker at a Citizens' Radio forum in the Mong Kok pedestrian zone on 25 May. The topic was the June 4 incident.[1]

Charges

Eight people including Szeto Wah were prosecuted.[2] According to the summons, Szeto was using unlicensed radio equipment when delivering the political message. Only the chief executive or the director general of the Telecommunications Authority have the power to approve licences for such equipment.

Selective prosecution

Szeto said he was discriminated against for this event, and had appeared on the same station before without being charged.[1] Other members who have spoken on the radio station included Anthony Cheung Bing Leung and legislator Choy So-yuk of the pro-Beijing Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong. They were not charged.[1][2] Leung Kwok-hung (Longhair) added that this is "selective prosecution". Mak Yin-ting (麥燕婷), general secretary of the Hong Kong Journalists Association have said "Everything is subject to government discretion. The government can grant or deny you a license as long as it wishes. It is not in accordance with the rule of law."[3]

Others

After the prosecution, Hong Kong's Secretary for Justice Wong Yan Lung (黃仁龍) slumped to a six-month low in public confidence.[4]

The latest case follows an ongoing lawsuit in which Tsang and Leung are arguing that the Telecommunications Ordinance, specifically the granting of broadcasting licences, was unconstitutional.[5]

Post charges broadcasts

  • On 20 April 2008 the station made a broadcast in Mong Kok after a three months break. It was hosted by radio founder Tsang Kin-shing. He was joined by veteran pro-democracy activist Szeto Wah and chairman of the League of Social Democrats Wong Yuk-man (黃毓民). Five other legislators also took part in the unlicensed broadcast.[6]
  • On 4 May 2008 another public broadcast was made at Times Square.[7]

Court

  • On 8 Jan 2008 the ruling by magistrate Douglas Yau Tak-hong (游德康) said certain provisions of the broadcasting law in the Telecommunication Ordinance was unconstitutional.[8]
  • On 23 May 2008 six lawmakers and five democracy activists appeared in Eastern district court. The case was adjourned until 15 October 2008 waiting for the ruling of Douglas Yau.[9][10]
English name
(jyutping or pinyin depending on media coverage)
Chinese name Representing
Lee Cheuk-yan 李卓人 Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions
Emily Lau Wai-hing 劉慧卿 The Frontier
Lee Wing-tat 李永達 Democratic party
Fernando Cheung 張超雄 Civic Party
Albert Chan 陳偉業 Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood
Leung Kwok-hung 梁國雄 League of Social Democrats
Tsang Kin-shing 曾健成 Activists, founder of station
Lo Hom-chau 羅就 Activists
Yang Kuang 楊匡 Activists
Ko Wah-bing 柯華 Activists
Poon Tat-keung 潘達強 Activists
  • On 10 Sept 2008 the rulings by magistrate Douglas Yau will be heard in the Court of Appeal.[10]
  • On 12 Dec 2008 the HK government won its appeal against the dismissal of charges against Citizens' Radio activists for broadcasting without a licence.[11]

Raid

The Office of the Telecommunications Authority (OFTA) mounted an enforcement operation against Citizens' Radio and raided the radio equipment on 19 December 2008.[12] Activist Tsang Kin-shing said the equipment was worth HK$20,000 to HK$30,000.[13]

References

  1. ^ a b c d The Standard. "Comment." Szeto faces Citizens' Radio rap. Retrieved on 30 Dec. 2007.
  2. ^ a b Alliance.org.hk. ""Szeto Wah under Prosecution" Retrieved on 29 Dec. 2007.
  3. ^ Taipeitimes. ""Hong Kong station defies ban." Retrieved on 26 May 2008.
  4. ^ South China morning post. "Controversies appear to shake public confidence in two ministers." Retrieved on 29 Dec. 2007.
  5. ^ HKreporter. ""Szeto faces citizen's radio rap." Retrieved on 30 Dec. 2007.
  6. ^ South China morning post. "Citizens' Radio broadcasters could face prosecution." Retrieved on 21 Apr. 2008.
  7. ^ The Standard. ""Citizens' Radio defies law at Times Square." Retrieved on 5 May 2008.
  8. ^ Variety. ""Hong Kong radio law ruled unconstitutional." Retrieved on 26 May 2008.
  9. ^ Mingpao. ""6議員民間廣播被控." Retrieved on 26 May 2008.
  10. ^ a b South China morning post. "Citizens' Radio activists appear in court." Retrieved on 26 May 2008.
  11. ^ South China Morning Post. 28 December 2008. "Citizens' Radio to fight ruling." Retrieved on 5 Jan. 2009.
  12. ^ Chinatechnews. ""Enforcement Action Against Suspected Illegal Radio Broadcasting In Hong Kong." Retrieved on 5 Jan. 2009.
  13. ^ South China Morning Post. 20 December 2008." Ofta raids Citizens' Radio." Retrieved on 5 Jan. 2009.

External links


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Citizens Radio Service — citizens band citizens band n. that portion of the radio frequency spectrum allocated by the FCC for the use of individual citizens for short distance personal or business use, from either fixed or mobile stations. Abreviated CB. Called also… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Citizens (radio show) — Citizens was a radio programme that aired from October 1987 to July 1991. There were 388 twenty five minute episodes and it was broadcast on BBC Radio 4. It was created by M. Imrie and A.J. Quinn. References Lavalie, John. Citizens. EpGuides. 21… …   Wikipedia

  • citizens' band — n. that portion of the radio frequency spectrum allocated by the FCC for the use of individual citizens for short distance personal or business use, from either fixed or mobile stations. Abreviated CB. Called also {Citizens Radio Service}. [PJC] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Citizens' band radio — Typical 1980s CB base station, used with outdoor antenna. This radio may also be used in an automobile, since it is powered by 13.8V DC. Shown with Astatic Power D 104 desk mic …   Wikipedia

  • citizens band — noun Usage: sometimes capitalized C&B : a range of radio wave frequencies that in the United States is allocated officially for private radio communications * * * a two way radio service (Citizens Radio Service) licensed by the FCC to a U.S.… …   Useful english dictionary

  • citizens band radio — ▪ communications also called  Cb Radio,         short range radio voice communications system used chiefly by private individuals in motor vehicles, homes, offices, and other locations where wireless telephone service is unavailable. A typical CB …   Universalium

  • Citizens Band — a two way radio service (Citizens Radio Service) licensed by the FCC to a U.S. citizen for short distance personal or business communications between fixed or mobile stations. Abbr.: CB [1960 65] * * * …   Universalium

  • Citizens Bank Park — Location One Citizens Bank Way Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19148 …   Wikipedia

  • Citizens' Forum (TV series) — Citizens Forum Presented by Gordon Hawkins Country of origin  Canada Language(s) English …   Wikipedia

  • Radio Martí — is a radio and television broadcaster based in Miami, Florida, financed by the United States government (Broadcasting Board of Governors), which transmits Spanish radio broadcasts to Cuba. Its broadcasts can also be heard in the United… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”