Editorial independence and stable funding are a must for any public broadcaster, members of a Legislative Council panel said after concluding a fact-finding trip into foreign broadcasting.
Legislative councillors Sin Chung-Kai, Emily Lau Wai-hing and Albert Cheng King-hon said they found several other similarities among public broadcasters in Canada, the US and Britain, including a legal backing for a mandate and an arm's length relationship with the government.
As members of Legco's information technology and broadcasting panel, the three councillors visited the foreign broadcasters and other groups on a fact-finding mission.
Being funded by the government, RTHK was effectively a government department, and such a role hurt its editorial freedom, the three lawmakers said after concluding the 10-day-trip.
While RTHK has some allocated airtime on commercial television channels, they said Hong Kong needed a public broadcasting system with its own channel.
Mr Cheng said: 'I don't think it works when you look at a public broadcaster without a channel. I'm sure Hong Kong will be looking at a PBS [public service broadcaster].'
The panel met with broadcasting authorities, major public broadcasters, and small and local community channels, ombudsmen and pressure groups on broadcasting and freedom of the press.