香港記者協會今天向新任特首林鄭月娥發公開信，對她未能履行早前承諾，取消政府限制網媒採訪的措施，感到失望。信中提到，網媒記者被拒採訪至少兩個關於林鄭月娥上任的重要記者會，包括昨天她首日到政府總部上班，以及上月21日她率領新班子見傳媒。記協希望林鄭月娥接納申訴專員建議，為網媒提供彈性措施，批准持有香港記者協會或香港攝影記者協會記者證人士，採訪政府活動。
記協表示，網媒記者被拒採訪，有違林鄭月娥參選時簽署的《新聞自由約章》，約章提到「本人承諾開放專業網上媒體採訪政府記者會及活動」。記協重申，申訴專員已裁定政府新聞處拒絕網媒採訪的安排不合理，並建議政府完成政策檢討前，為網媒提供彈性安排。
記協在信中感謝林鄭月娥及其競選團隊，在她參選時邀請網媒參與所有傳媒活動，有關做法證明政府一直以空間及保安理由拒絕網媒採訪，只是藉口。若林鄭月娥延續不合理及不公平的採訪政策，難以接受。記協希望盡快收到林鄭月娥回覆，或能與她見面討論。
記協給林鄭月娥的公開信：
致行政長官林鄭月娥公開信
Open letter to Chief Executive Mrs Carrie Lam
Dear Mrs Lam
We are writing to express our disappointment in your failure to honour your promise to stop the government’s discriminatory policy against online-only media.
Journalists working in those media have been barred from attending at least two of your important press events, namely your first press gathering in your official capacity as the Chief Executive on July 3 and your press conference to introduce your team of principal officials on June 21.
The ban has contravened the press freedom charter that you have signed at an election campaign forum hosted by us. In the charter, you pledged to grant online-only media equal rights and access to government press functions.
Those arrangements have run against an earlier judgement by the Ombudsman Office that found the present ban unreasonable. The Ombudsman has called for flexibility in the accreditation of online journalists before a policy review is completed.
We appreciated that you and your campaign team have engaged online media in your campaign. Online journalists have been invited to attend all of your press events during the election campaign. By doing so, you have proved the so-called space and security concern raised by the Government in defending their ban is mere excuse. To keep the unreasonable and unjust policy towards online media after you took office unchanged is unacceptable.
We urge you to accept the Ombudsman’s recommendations in particular its call for flexibility. Before the completion of policy review, online-only journalists should be granted access to government press functions on the production of membership cards from the Hong Kong Journalists Association and the Hong Kong Press Photographers Association.
We look forward to your prompt response and are happy to discuss with you on the matter.
Hong Kong Journalists Association
4 July 2017
