-Caveat Lector-
http://www.webb-site.com/articles/kroll.htm
In a development with startling implications for press freedom in Hong Kong,
Webb-site.com discovers that leading private-eye Kroll has been investigating
our critical coverage of the Cyberport, for an unknown client, as part of a
wider on-going project. If negative journalistic criticism of a Hong Kong
corporate project gets investigated in this way, then what does that say
about the future of Hong Kong as a media centre, and indeed an e-portal, for
Asia? Is this "press freedom with Hong Kong characteristics?"
Kroll Investigates our Cyberport Coverage
27th May 1999
Last Wednesday 19th May, Webb-site.com received an e-mail addressed to the
editor, regarding the proposed Cyberport property development in Pokfulam,
which has been awarded without a tender process to Richard Li's Pacific
Century Group, in joint venture with the Hong Kong government.
Clueless in Seattle
The writer of this e-mail claimed to be "doing some free lance writing for a
trade journal out of Washington." He later claimed to be writing for a
Seattle-based trade journal. The writer (we will call him "Bob" to protect
his career prospects) went on "As the intention of this project is to promote
Hong Kong as an international IT outpost, it is of great interest to a number
of people in the States who either do business in Hong Kong, or travel to
Hong Kong frequently."
Bob referred to negative criticism of the project from "a number of people"
and wrote "I will be in town for a few days and would like to meet with you
and discuss your views on this project." In his e-mail, he asked us to reply
to an e-mail address at one of the web's freemail providers, yahoo.com. As
regular readers will know, we have published a number of articles about this
project and the way it has been awarded, and it would be fair to say that our
views are negative.
"So what?" you might think. Well unfortunately, Bob was not perhaps as
IT-literate as an IT journalist would be. The detailed header on his e-mail
reveals that it was sent at about 2.30pm in the Hong Kong time zone, from a
PC on the Asian sub-domain of Kroll-Ogara.com. A few seconds later it passed
out through the Kroll-Ogara mail gateway in the U.S. Eastern time zone, and
then arrived at our mail server. The wonders of modern technology meant that
we were on to him from the beginning. We later checked with Sam Kaplan, a
spokesperson for the Trade Development Alliance of Greater Seattle, who
confirmed that they had no recollection of Bob and they had not commissioned
any article on the Cyberport, which they had not heard about.
For those of you who don't know, Kroll is a world-wide investigation agency
popular with Earth's leading corporations and governments for investigating
other people's affairs. For more information on Kroll, visit the Kroll
Associates web site, or the Kroll-Ogara web site (hey, they even get free
publicity here). Alternatively you could look at the piece by their
Executive Managing Director for Asia, Stephen Vickers, which was published in
a recent issue of Time Magazine. Incidentally, we wonder now a Managing
Director could ever be non-Executive, but perhaps the more words the better
in U.S. titles.
Having Bob for lunch
We decided to humour Bob and play along. We replied that we would be happy to
spare some time. Less than 24 hours later, on Thursday 20th May, Bob called.
He had "arrived" in Hong Kong and was keen to meet up. He was "staying with
a friend" and the only way to contact him was through a rented mobile phone.
How convenient.
On Monday, Webb-site.com editor David Webb bought our hapless investigator
lunch at a bar in Central, and was grilled by Bob (somewhat more than the
steak in his bookmaker sandwich) about our coverage of the Cyberport. What
were our motives? Where did we get our information? In our piece
"Cybervillas," how did we calculate that 75% of the floor area is
residential? Why did we write the piece Pacific Roundabout about the Pacific
Century Place Beijing property?
Our information is all from the public domain folks -- all we did is piece it
together. Bob wanted to know -- did we think there is a conspiracy against
Pacific Century, or the Cyberport project? We don't. Anyone who is awarded
a project in such unusual circumstances is bound to generate a lot of
publicity. We are not involved in any conspiracy. Webb-site.com works
alone, but is not alone in the opinions it holds. We cover a wide range of
Hong Kong issues and our motives are clearly
stated.
Lunch went on like this for about an hour and a half, occasionally deviating
to other topics but the core focus of the Cyberport continued. All the
while, we were wondering who had commissioned Kroll, what was the scope of
the investigation, and what does this say about freedom of speech and the
press in Hong Kong? Is everyone who makes critical comments about the
Cyberport being investigated?
Time for some answers
We decided to get some answers. We told Bob that a lot of material on the
Cyberport is sourced from a broker (it is not) who preferred not to publish
in his own name, because his firm would not approve. We could ask our broker
if he would be willing to meet Bob. Our "broker" was actually David Ibison,
Business News Editor for the leading English-language local paper, the South
China Morning Post. Hey -- in the internet era we have to give print media a
chance!
The meeting was at 6pm Tuesday, in a hotel bar in Central. Our "broker" would
be there. Bob showed up, completely unaware that his cover was blown. As
the lounge singer sang "Send in the Clowns," Bob quizzed our "broker" about
the Cyberport. Was there a conspiracy? What were his sources? Mr. Ibison
is well-informed about the project, and his cover was maintained until we
decided to drop it and ask Bob why Kroll was investigating Webb-site.com and
its editor.
It's a Mushroom
After a few minutes of hopeless denials, during which Bob dug himself a
deeper and deeper hole, he confessed. Yes, he was working for Kroll. No, he
didn't know who their client is. He was just doing a one-off job, he had
just graduated, and he really hoped to get a full-time job with the firm
(will he -- what do you think?). He pleaded that his knowledge of the
investigation was limited. "It's a mushroom" he says, presumably at this
point feeling like he was floating around in hot goulash. "It's a
need-to-know basis".
Well, what we need to know is, at what point does the investigation of
journalists writing articles on matters of public interest, and in this case
based solely on public disclosures, become harassment? Are we really heading
for a situation in Hong Kong where we are unable to write critical articles
without being investigated by "the world's leading risk mitigation agency" as
they call themselves? Are all critics of the Cyberport, including the
so-called "ten developers" and legislators being investigated? How far does
this go? Are we being watched as we write? Is this "press freedom with Hong
Kong characteristics?"
We spoke to Stephen Vickers, Head of Kroll for Asia-Pacific. He confirmed
that Bob was their contractor but denied that Kroll was investigating
Webb-site.com or its editor, or our critical comments on the Cyberport. He
confirmed that there is a "wider project" which is "on-going" but could not
say what it was about, what Bob was working on, or who they were working for,
citing client confidentiality and an
inability to reach "key people." It's funny how, with investigating
agencies, privacy only seems to work in one direction. Mr Vickers declined
to comment on whether Bob had a valid employment visa to work in Hong Kong.
The investigation of Webb-site.com sets a dangerous precedent that may deter
other writers from writing negative criticism of corporate events in Hong
Kong -- if you are thinking of doing so, think twice -- you may end up under
the Kroll microscope. Perhaps the greatest irony is that you are reading
this on the internet. With internet journals such as this one under
investigation, what is the future of Hong Kong's drive to become the e-portal
for Asia?
� David M. Webb, 1999
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