Tag Archives : media watch

Hong Kong Free Press has broken records to achieve its initial crowd-funding goal within 48 hours. Today, HKFP surpassed the HK$200,000 mark. FringeBacker.com report that this is the fastest they have seen a campaign reach their target.

This original target was set to sustain HKFP throughout the two-month start-up period with minimal staff. Further contributions will strengthen its independence, help HKFP to kick-off stronger and will bolster its capacity to provide a much-needed credible news source for Hong Kong.

The crowd-funding campaign will continue until June 8th. Every HK$50,000 provides the basics for HKFP to survive for an extra month, support an extra reporter and build audience in order to become self-sustaining.

“This groundswell of grassroots support proves there is a great appetite for an alternative news source in Hong Kong,” said co-director Tom Grundy.

A report on the declining state of press freedom in Hong Kong was published by the PEN American Centre yesterday. PEN are the latest international group to highlight the erosion of free speech and the rise of self-censorship in the city. Reporters Without Borders and the Committee to Protect Journalists have also raised the alarm in the past year, along with the local Independent Commentators Association and Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA), who described 2014 as the “darkest for press freedom for several decades“.

The PEN report detailed trends whereby the range of news and views available to Hong Kongers had narrowed. It also noted that media organisations were increasingly self-censoring stories that might conflict with their owners’ business interests in the mainland.

A five-page list of attacks on journalists during the Occupy protests and a table detailing instances of censorship were included. Both were compiled by the Hong Kong Journalists Association. 

Yesterday, Al-Jazeera English broadcast a 10-minute report about the South China Morning Post as part of their global media watchdog programme, Listening Post.

The show may be downloaded as a podcast here. Read Hong Wrong’s exclusive investigation into self-censorship at the South China Morning Post here, and our special comment on the paper’s history and importance.

Guest Post: House News, a leading ‘Huffington Post-style’ pro-democracy news site disappeared from the internet suddenly last weekend. Its archives were also deleted – but was it really about money? Ex-columnist Evan Fowler reveals the truth about its demise, in what is yet another blow for press freedom in Hong Kong.

The House News shut suddenly last Saturday. At lunch I was online checking news. Then came a cryptic message from an editor at House. It read, “Storm has arrived. Your writing must not stop”. I immediately checked online. Instead of a news page there was only a written statement from Tony Tsoi Ho Tung saying that House News has closed.Making allowances for translation, Tony began by stating his “fear”. He wrote of Hong Kong having changed; of pressure and surveillance; and of a wave or atmosphere of “white terror”.

He also stated his need to travel to the Mainland for business, and the deepening sense of fear he felt each time he crosses the border. It is a feeling he “can’t articulate to those not in his position”. Unusually, he chose to mention his family within this context of fear. He writes of their fears for him and of an increasing hostile atmosphere. It was a fear felt not by his person alone, but by his family.

A multi-part series

‘Little Eye on Big Media’ Special Series: The Hong Kong Journalists Association has declared the past year in Hong Kong to be the “darkest for press freedom for several decades“. Their 2014 annual report, entitled ‘Press Freedom Under Siege’, was released today. It laments the deteriorating situation in Hong Kong as political tension increases between Beijing and the territory.

It also announced the formation of a ‘Self-censorship Monitoring Committee’ to act as a watchdog and investigate complaints of editorial interference by local media managers. The panel, composed of journalists, academics and lawyers, will name-and-shame outlets where incidents have been confirmed in order to increase public awareness of such cases.

Complaints may be submitted by reporters, editors, photographers, commentators or columnists within 12 months of an incident arising.

The report notes the brutal attack on ex-Ming Pao editor Kevin Lau, the sacking of an outspoken talk-show cost Li Wei-Ling, advertising boycotts of pro-democracy titles and the government’s refusal to issue HKTV with a free-to-air licence.

It also notes how Beijing has lectured media representatives on the need to increase their coverage of the anti-Occupy Central movement.

A multi-part series

‘Little Eye on Big Media’ Special Series: [Part 2: Op-ed, click here for part 1] There is no other newspaper on Earth better positioned than the South China Morning Post to provide coverage of this century’s most important story – China’s rapid rise. Historically, the Post has been the ‘newspaper of record’ for Hong Kong and is better placed than anyone else to observe and analyse Beijing’s growing power and influence. It has over 110 years of experience, is located in the one corner of China that does not restrict the press, and has a newsroom full of multi-lingual journalistic talent to call upon.

Weak spots
The newspaper has, rightly, bagged many awards for excellence in reporting but, like any other media group, has certain pressure points. Critically, for the SCMP – its weakness is often China. The SCMP’s Malaysian owners have extensive business interests across the mainland and stakes in Yurun Food Group, Shangri-la Hotels, Kerry Properties and several transport companies. This, alongside suspicions of direct – or indirect – pressure from Beijing and ambitions to expand across the border, has led to a well-documented watering-down of its criticism of China.

Whilst superb critiques of mainland affairs are still printed every week, any irregularities are alarming as Hong Kong has dropped 27 places since 2010 to 61st on the Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Index. It sits at 74th on the Freedom House ranking, now deemed ‘partly free’, behind Mali. Earlier this year, the Committee to Protect Journalists produced a special report this year on Hong Kong’s “cancerous” spate of self-censorship, making reference to the SCMP. Amidst violent attacks, cyber attacks, boycotts and threats, we may be left with only the Apple Daily, a tabloid, as the last paper willing to scrutinise Beijing.

Worth saving. SCMP through the decades.

Wasted opportunity? 
But the SCMP has a choice and, perhaps, a golden business opportunity. It could leverage the talent, reputation and unique place it has in China to position itself as the ‘go-to’ international news wire for trusted news from the mainland. Instead of relying upon state-run news agencies, media organisations around the world could subscribe to SCMP’s dependable news feed, paying a premium for independent reporting, free from interference.