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The recent scandal involving Chen Yongzhou, a reporter with Guangzhou-based New Express newspaper, made headlines in all forms of media here in Hong Kong. In the beginning of the story we heard that Chen was exposed to a lot of previously unknown "facts" about Zoomlion Heavy Industry Science and Technology Development, a leading manufacturer of concrete-pumping equipment in Hunan. A series of reports got him arrested in Guangzhou by Hunan police outside their jurisdiction and taken to Hunan for interrogation. When Chen's arrest broke in the news, not only were freedom-minded Hong Kong residents understandably infuriated, but his employer made its indignation known by running two front-page statements demanding the immediate and unconditional release of Chen, in a show of utmost resolve to win justice for the reporter.

A few days later, however, the real truth came out after Chen admitted that he had accepted more than 500,000 yuan ($82,000) from an unnamed party to write the slanderous stories about Zoomlion, whose share price plummeted as a result, taking 1.4 billion yuan off the company's value. New Express, for its part, paid the price of losing its credibility and having to apologize to the public as well as Zoomlion on its front page. The incident cast the whole media community in a very bad light as well.

Freedom of the press and freedom of expression have been Hong Kong society's core values for a very long time; and the journalistic community has enjoyed an exceptional position that keeps its credibility beyond public questioning, very much like the queen's chastity.

Unfortunately some individuals have taken advantage of these freedoms and got away with fabricated stories. For example, a daily newspaper with broad readership here in Hong Kong has been found guilty by the court more than a hundred times in recent years of violating press codes with false reports. Nevertheless it has remained steadfast on flaunting its sensationalist style, as its owner has brushed the court fines aside as mere "operational costs".

As a conveyor of public opinion the press is entrusted with the sacred mission of monitoring the government and demanding justice where it is due, but news and opinions, if not properly regulated, can be used for personal benefit, or "bought" to serve special interests. They, too, can become sharp tools to harm people and even society as a whole. There have been numerous examples of media entities abusing "freedom of speech" in attacks against other members of the press and violation of privacy with heavy damages to individual and corporate reputations, while putting their own credibility and journalistic integrity in serious jeopardy.

Zoomlion was able to bring law enforcement to its rescue probably because it is a high-profile State-owned enterprise, but numerous victims of press abuse don't stand a chance of winning justice and have to lick their wantonly inflicted wounds in silence.

There is no question that freedom of the press and expression is worth protecting with our lives, but we cannot tolerate those individuals and institutions that violate the journalistic code of conduct and do whatever they want without consequence, as if they held the license to kill. In addition to requiring journalists to uphold professional integrity we should also consider proper legislation to regulate media behavior and ensure the purity of the media industry will not be contaminated by wayward individuals and/or institutions.

The author is a veteran current affairs commentator.

(HK Edition 10/31/2013 page1)