Critics note that TVB was the television outlet Mrs. Lam chose for an interview last month in which she compared dealing with the protesters to her own experience as a mother with a willful child — an analogy that enraged many of the demonstrators. On July 2, when TVB covered the aftermath of the storming of the legislature, it focused on the damage to the building and, unlike other news outlets, barely discussed the protesters’ demands.

Mr. Au said TVB’s closeness to mainland China was evident in the amount of airtime it devoted to reports about, for instance, President Xi Jinping’s so-called Belt and Road Initiative of international trade and infrastructure links, at the expense of other types of reporting.

“This is by design: The serious reporters don’t have enough resources and time to devote to serious journalism,” Mr. Au said. “This is what I call ‘structural censorship’ that confines the content without explicit censorship.”

Privately, some of the network’s reporters and former staff members say they have felt caught in the middle. They are sympathetic to the protesters but resent being targeted over coverage decisions they say were made by their superiors.

“Protesters accuse TVB of brainwashing its loyal audience,” said Lam Yin-bong, a former TVB reporter who now works for Stand News. “But these reporters and cameramen think: ‘First, I’m on your side, and second, even if I’m not, I’m just doing my work in a professional manner.’”

“They would think: ‘This is not my fault, so why are you targeting me?’” he said.