A local "newspaper" went out of its way to convince Hong Kong people not to make cash donations for earthquake victims in Ya'an, Sichuan province, and made up a story about a new middle school built using more than 30 million yuan ($4.8 million) in donations from Hong Kong "ending up a dangerous structure". That local newspaper committed several sins on this matter and must be condemned. The SAR government brushed the rumor aside as unfounded immediately after its publication; while an expert in construction concluded the school in question has no serious structural flaws. That local newspaper has long been known as a prolific rumor mill and deserves a good round of condemnation.

The conventional news media has a number of functions, including timely coverage of and commentary about events that concern the public and exposing fraudulent behavior to safeguard social justice. For that local "newspaper", however, there is no limit to what it would do serve its own interest, such as telling lies in the name of "exposing fraud" to discredit its enemy. One cannot but ask: "How can you protect social justice with injustice?"

Another function of news media is to help harmonize society. That local newspaper has done nothing to this effect but a great deal to the contrary, by sowing discord between Hong Kong residents and mainland compatriots with vicious lies.

News media is also obligated to educate the public. The local "newspaper" in this case misled its readers and gave the younger generation all kinds of wrong ideas.

One particularly evil deed the local newspaper committed was telling people not to donate cash for the earthquake victims in Ya'an. Making donations is a personal choice nobody else has the right to oppose. You don't have to do it if you believe your money will likely "end up in corrupt officials' hands." Or you may go ahead and donate if you are convinced not all officials are corrupt and your donation will be safe with a certified caretaker institution.

On flag days, for example, people fork out small amounts of cash when they feel like giving, or ignore the flags when they are not in the mood. It's that simple. You cannot order a flag seller to tell you exactly how your money will be used, although some charities report their financial activities of their own accord regularly.

Of course disaster areas are always welcome to explain to donors how their money has been spent in proper detail, but no one is in a position to stop others from donating simply because the beneficiary does not provide that kind of information.

The author is a current affairs commentator.

(HK Edition 05/04/2013 page4)