T he media revealed last week that Lands Department assistant director Anita Lam Ka-fun had bought farm land next to an area that is planned for a new town. The media accused her of using confidential government information to make money because her land's value would rise if the new town is built. TVB sent an intern reporter to the farm land to do a news story. By lucky timing, the reporter saw Lam Ka-fun there and interviewed her. Li Wei-ling, the sacked Commercial Radio host who now does an internet radio show for Apple Daily, accused TVB of pretending that the intern was lucky. She said TVB had arranged the timing with Lam Ka-fun to help her because of the scandal.
I was shocked because Li Wei-ling had no proof that the timing was arranged. When she was fired last February, she claimed, also without proof, that Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying had arranged it to take away her media freedom. The democracy camp, and even the Hong Kong Journalists Association, treated her as the hero of media freedom. But now we know this so-called hero of media freedom is a fake who accuses people without any proof. Is that the kind of media freedom we want? It is not media freedom but gutter journalism when a radio host accuses people without proof. Even the editor of Apple Daily had to apologize for her false accusation. I hope the intern reporter who was criticized by Li Wei-ling does not lose faith in Hong Kong journalism. Li Wei-ling is not a hero of media freedom. She is a joke.
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我絕少用這個專欄去談嚴肅（weighty）的議題，例如新聞自由。這個專欄的原意是幫助讀者改善英語。可是，上星期有些事情發生，令新聞業的名譽黯然無光（tarnished）。它令我憤怒得，決定要用今天的專欄來寫寫新聞自由這個沉重（weighty）的話題。若某事很重，例如一個裝滿書的袋，你可以說這是個沉甸甸（weighty）的袋。但weighty也可以指事情很嚴肅和重要。新聞自由就是個嚴肅（weighty）的議題。
上星期傳媒揭露，地政總署助理署長林嘉芬購入農地，該地是政府計劃發展成新市鎮的範圍。傳媒指控她以政府的機密資料牟利，因為若新市鎮發展，她的地價會因而上漲。無綫派一位實習記者到農地去做一個新的專題。無巧不成話，記者在那兒見着林嘉芬，便訪問了她。那位被商台解僱、現在主持《蘋果日報》網台節目的李慧玲，指控無綫假裝那位實習記者是幸運遇上。她說是無綫與林嘉芬夾好時機，幫助她從醜聞中脫身。
我很驚愕，因為李慧玲完全沒有證據證明那個時間是預先安排好的。當她於二月被炒時，她同樣是毫無根據地聲稱，那是特首梁振英的安排，以奪去她的新聞自由。泛民陣營甚至是香港記者協會，也把她當成新聞自由的英雄。但現在我們知道，這位所謂的新聞自由英雄是假的，她在沒有證據下指控別人。
即使《蘋果日報》的編輯也得為她的誣告而道歉。我希望那位被李慧玲批評的實習記者不會對香港新聞業失去信心。李慧玲不是新聞自由英雄，她是個笑話。
mickchug@gmail.com
中譯:七刻
Michael Chugani 褚簡寧
Source: http://news.stheadline.com/dailynews/headline_news_detail_columnist.asp?id=297942§ion_name=wtt&kw=126