Hundreds of thousands rallied against Beijing on July 1 in Hong Kong. Photo: Laurel Chor
The Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA) has released their latest annual report, ominously titled “Press Freedom Under Siege”, further stoking the tension that permeates the city as protestors demand universal suffrage and Beijing mounts increasing pressure on Hong Kong. In their press release, the HKJA also announced the establishment of a “Self-censorship Monitoring Committee”, which will investigate and publicize (a nicer way to say, “name and shame”, as Hong Wrong pointed out) journalist complaints about such incidents The annual report begins with the statement that “the year under review has been the darkest for press freedom for several decades”, and continues rightfully pessimistically, saying it’ll only get worse from here.
The report cites highly disturbing incidents in the past year like the horrific, violent attack on former Ming Pao Daily News senior editor Kevin Lau a month after he was suddenly removed from his position, the firing of Li Wei Ling, a talk show host for Commercial Radio who had made critical comments about the government, and advertising boycotts against Apple Daily and am730, a free Chinese newspaper. The association also criticizes the government for increasingly releasing information through anonymous officials, disallowing the possibility for them to be held accountable for their words. And who can forget the brouhaha as Hong Kong rallied in anger at the local government’s refusal to grant a TV license for the proposed Hong Kong Television Network.
Their report is echoed by an investigation by Hong Wrong, which found that journalists at the South China Morning Post, the city’s largest and oldest English-language newspaper, complained about “a rise in instances of sensitive stories being scrapped, diluted, ‘buried’ or removed”. The SCMP staff, who spoke to the blog on condition of anonymity, further told stories about how senior editors often asked writers to add “more ‘balance’ or emphasis to highlight the authorities’ point of view” to pieces that criticize governments at both the local and national level. Some writers seem to have given up all together, writing their articles with an “excess of caution” in order to avoid senior management’s qualms about so-called journalistic balance. Reportedly, editors tried to nix SCMP’s excellent multimedia project about the Tiananmen Square massacre.
RELATED:
Recovery will be long and difficult for attacked Ming Pao editor
Ming Pao editor talks about attack
Reader Interactions