In an editorial in the South China Morning Post, media researcher John Patkin has asked the Communications Authority to ask RTHK to explain how its English station, Radio 3, is meeting the needs of the English-speaking community of Hong Kong.

Patkin points out that while the private broadcasters keep their costs down, RTHK has a 24-hour government-funded newsroom supported by producers, web presence and advertising.

Publicly funded and billed as Hong Kong’s number 1 music and talk station, the method and results of Radio 3’s annual review are not disclosed, he said.

Questioning the use of its resources, he added that RTHK may argue that some of its programmes have won awards but may not be relevant.

As English is fast becoming the lingua franca for many non-Chinese speakers,  Patkin argued that Radio 3 should be more transparent, play a more active role in Hong Kong, focusing on current events that relate to the audience instead of rehashing international news.