Nothing gets newspapers more worked up than stories about themselves. Late last week almost all HK's newspapers reported on a court case involving the Independent Commission Against Corruption. A woman, who is a protected witness, went to court saying ICAC was holding her against her will. The papers printed her name in reporting the case, a breach of the law on protected witnesses. This lead to the ICAC launching raids on 6 newspapers and detaining two lawyers involved in the case. Both lawyers were later released. And now the press are going into a frenzy of righteous indignation.

The problem for the papers is they are completely in the wrong. The first question has to be where are these newspapers' legal departments? They need to seriously have a look at themselves. Secondly the newspapers need to come back down to planet Earth. Of the papers raided 3 had editorials. The SCMP: The conduct of Saturday's investigations exacted a high cost. In this case, it goes beyond casting an unnecessary shadow over local press freedoms. It includes straining the ICAC's relationship with the press..." That sounds almost like a threat rather than a reasoned defence of the newspaper. But that's because the paper apparently has no other defence. The ICAC was heavy-handed but they certainly acted within their powers. They obtained warrants that were issued by High Court judges and followed the correct procedures in launching the raids. Indeed the high profile nature of the raids is clearly sending a message as well as being an investigation into breaches of the law. It is saying to the media and wider public that breaking the law will not be tolerated, no matter who or what you are. That is as it should be.

Two other papers, the HK Economic Journal and the Sun, both had similar editorials with the words "reckless" and "infringing press freedom". There are firm arguments that press freedom in Hong Kong is under threat but this is not such a time. Vitriol like this doesn't help nor explain the situation. Instead this raid represents a victory for a legal system that works and the newspapers have been caught out. The Standard, a paper that was not raided, has a good report on the whole schlemozzle.

I hope the ICAC can maintain their integrity and carry through with this investigation on these newspapers. If they have broken the law they deserve to be punished, regardless of their bleating. It's hard to feel sorry for the press when they bring things upon themselves.