Fragmented and fragmented civil society

Once upon a time, I had some connection and participation with the civil society in Hong Kong. But in recent years, due to some well-known reasons and the change in the focus of my life, the connection in this area has actually been broken a lot, and I have become more and more "home" and exclusive village.

Although many groups and networks that used to be active in civil society in recent years have announced their disbandment or silently ceased operations, there are still many people who still stay, who insist on exerting a small amount of power, and in difficult times Continue to do what should be done under the environment of sufficiency, promote the idea that you believe in, or slow down the degree of social collapse a little bit. Despite the wind and rain, we still move forward with determination. It can be seen that this network still has a three-point nail.

When the red line is not yet overwhelmed, it is not easy to grab the attention of the public under the flood of information. Therefore, how to effectively operate a social platform and maintain a community is also a lot of groups. Continue to learn issues, such as the numerous "CLS" calls, are one way to increase reach. However, in the face of the constant adjustment of algorithms by social media giants, the reach of information is always limited. Fortunately, there are still some media that support fellow travelers. If they occasionally assist in some special reports, they can still let more public know about these groups. existence and its work.

Today, there are no more large-scale peer media, and emerging online media have not yet fully become a climate due to various restrictions. I also read the new book of the Wu Chi Foundation earlier, only to know that there are still many groups that promote Hong Kong's manufacturing and community culture, and are doing a lot of experiments.

There are some groups that are more sensitive in nature, and their operations are gradually becoming "underground" in the atmosphere of the general environment. Whether it is to obtain information, support Kozjin or participate in activities, they also need to use the form of "friend to friend" to thread the needle. Only people who don’t have much social capital themselves will lose the opportunity to “get around the fireplace”, and the gap they will encounter will be even bigger than before.

Once upon a time, many groups would also provide a space for the public to communicate and discuss by holding lectures, forums, screenings and other activities, and I like walking-in to participate in these activities on an impromptu basis. The permanent gathering restriction order triggered by the martial arts has made it impossible to hold many activities that can "gather people" (for example, a district councilor who held a private screening of "Phantom Love" in the past can also be voted for violating the law. gathering restrictions). Activities such as lectures are held online. Although there are no geographical and venue restrictions, some new possibilities can be triggered, but the quality of communication in physical activities cannot always be replaced by online activities. The offline activities that are still insisting on holding now require participants to register in advance, and even cooperate with the vaccine requirements of the venue, which more or less adds some obstacles to participation.

On the other hand, in such a world, if the work of the group expands, it may be suspected of "building a big tree and attracting wind", in exchange for more "attention" and soft suppression by the regime. How to reach more citizens and avoid such a critical point of triggering is another dilemma.

With the decline of parliament, pressure groups and outspoken media, some insightful people intend to turn some TV programs into mouthpieces for "praying for the people". TVB's "Look Around" and CABLE's "Frontline Search" are among them. watcher.

I remember that many years ago, some people in the media have commented on the narrative method of "Looking Around". It is a kind of re-construction of the existing "common sense", to satisfy and echo the agenda that the authorities intend to promote, and then use soft and homely methods to put The audience is poisoned; and the interview and filming methods of their filming team have always been disapproved by people in the media. But now, when some "citizens" encounter injustices, they find that "there is no way out", and they are more than willing to report to "Look Around", and their team will be another "old boy" to form the so-called pressure of public opinion, forcing the The government or those involved will submit. In this way, the image of "praying for the people's life" was constructed through constant reports.

However, if you know the background of this TV station, you can already know that there are many topics or messages that they are expected to bring out, but they will never do or say it. ", some disputes, in fact, have no impact on the daily life of many people, but the precious airtime is spent on these trivial things.

Moreover, even if their hosts and interview teams are really trained by professional media workers, their narration with salt and vinegar will still spin the issue into the direction they want, but it may not be beneficial to the situation. What kind of policy interventions will be brought in afterward, and whether the real sufferers will be regarded as "condom" after cutting into the issue, all these are not things that they need to pay attention to and take into account.

In order to achieve substantial results in a social movement or protest, it still requires the organizers to continue to follow up, empower local stakeholders, and use various relevant studies as justifications. results. When a society is reduced to relying on the irresponsible intervention of the media, it is by no means a blessing for the city to waste and distort issues that could have been fermented indiscriminately.