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The Media Are the Message
The Big Scoop at Hong Kong's FCC
By ADI IGNATIUS
November 15, 1999
Web posted at 1 p.m. Hong Kong time, 12 a.m. EDT
Come with me inside the fabled Foreign Correspondents' Club of Hong Kong, an institution immortalized in John Le Carré's spy classic "The Honourable Schoolboy."
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In an earlier era, this was Hong Kong at its down-at-the-heels finest, the prime chill spot for the journalists who covered wars in Indochina or eyeballed the communists across the border.
With me so far? Now let's walk past the fabled barstools, ashtrays, urinals, lushes, divorcées and so forth and upstairs to the truly extraordinary Extraordinary General Meeting that took place last week.
Some 400 members met to consider a motion to boot out the club's president, a foreign correspondent named Philip Segal. The details aren't important, trust me. But basically a few (non-journalist) board members think Segal's a jerk and want him out. These are some of the most prominent fixtures of the contemporary FCC, the men who prop up the club's bar, and vice versa. As one of Segal's detractors framed the issue: "Vote for the drunks. It's important."
The case against Segal, presented by a businessman named Bill Areson, didn't go terribly well. At one point he lashed out at Segal for a letter he had sent defending press freedom. The problem? The note had elicited a "strong reaction" from Hong Kong's top civil servant, Anson Chan. That, Areson said gravely, was "very bad."
Debate Lesson One: Know your audience. In a room full of journalists, don't argue against press freedom. Sure enough, the assembly booed with gusto.
Later, another angry man (a very large non-journalist member) stood up to heap more abuse on Segal. When a mild heckle arose in the back of the room, the very large man snapped: "Want to see me outside?"
Finally, Philip Bowring, a former club president, stood up to defend Segal, criticizing the "vested interests" who want him out. Kevin Egan, a barrister, simultaneously articulated an opposing view, forming with his right hand the internationally recognized symbol for "wanker."
And so it goes. It would be tempting to conclude that the club is losing its tone. But did it ever have any? Listen to Le Carré's words about the FCC, published 22 years ago: "For reasons of prestige, the top correspondents steered clear of the place."
Um. I was just passing through.
Segal won, by a vote of 299 to 63. Actually, since correspondents' votes carry more voting weight than those of other members, the official tally worked out to 3,179 votes to 327. Back to the bar, boys.
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