When the Hong Kong Press Freedom Lights Go Out (Zhongzhong News)

JackyAu
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IPFS
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"What happened this year was unimaginable in the past. The media organization went bankrupt without trial or conviction, but the account was frozen, and the business would be closed if it couldn't operate; Cai Yuling was accused of making false declarations because of the search. As journalists, we never imagined that Offenders are not…” Chen Xizi, a senior lecturer at the School of Journalism and Communication, CUHK, described the past year as being—very difficult for all journalists.

Chen Jueming, a former Apple reporter who watched the company close and wrote the final chapter, described what Apple Daily experienced as only part of the changing environment in Hong Kong. He admits that he is not ready to return to the frontline of the media because he has a kind of trauma in his heart, but he believes in the old saying of "A Tale of Two Cities": "This is the worst of times and the best of times."

There will never be an easy and pleasant year in the work of the media. To do a good job in the Fourth Power, there will always be people or forces that will give us some difficulties.



crime scene

In 2021, there will be one less newspaper on the newspaper shelf, and Hong Kong people will have one less choice. Next Media, established after 8964, was once hailed as an indicator of freedom of speech in Hong Kong. Its "Apple Daily" is one of the best-selling newspapers in Hong Kong. We survived, but in the end, with the government's action, we faced the most difficult hurdle within a year of the implementation of the National Security Law.

On June 17 this year, the National Security Bureau charged five senior officials of Next Media with conspiracy to collude with foreign countries or foreign forces. Nearly 500 police officers searched the Next Media building and seized at least 44 computer mainframes and hard drives, including news materials. The Security Bureau also froze Apple Daily Co., Ltd., Apple Daily Printing Co., Ltd. and Apple Internet Co., Ltd. with a total of 18 million yuan in assets. Li Guihua, a senior police superintendent of the National Security Department, described the Next Media building as "a crime scene": "We have very strong evidence that the article concerned was the focus of a conspiracy plan to provide a pretext for foreign institutions to impose sanctions on China and Hong Kong."

Six days later, the State Security Department arrested Yang Qingqi, the editor-in-chief of Apple Daily under the pseudonym Li Ping, on the same charge. The management of Next Media announced in the afternoon that, based on employee safety and manpower considerations, the operation would be stopped immediately after midnight, and the last physical newspaper would be published that night. . Since the early morning of June 24, the website of Apple Daily, the mobile app and all social platforms have been unavailable. The news platform that has experienced ups and downs with Hong Kong and recorded social changes has become an announcement in black on a white background overnight.

The last "Apple Daily" printed 1 million copies, setting a record for the highest single-day sales of a Hong Kong newspaper. A news organization that has been standing in Hong Kong for 26 years has had a major reversal of fortunes in just one week, and it has come to an end. But the prosecution has not stopped. On June 28, Feng Weiguang, the executive editor of the English edition of Apple Daily under the pseudonym Lu Feng, was arrested at the airport; on July 21, Lin Wenzong, the executive editor in charge of publishing the last edition of Apple Daily, was also arrested. .

As of the end of this year, a total of seven Next Media executives and "Apple Daily" editors and editors have been charged with conspiracy to collude with foreign countries or foreign forces to endanger national security, and conspiracy to print, publish, distribute, display or reproduce seditious publications. Denied bail. On September 5, Next Media issued a notice to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, announcing the resignation of all directors. In the same month, Financial Secretary Chen Maobo stated that for the public interest, he petitioned the court for the winding up of Next Media in accordance with the "Company Ordinance". A liquidation order was issued on the 15th.

Three days before the end of 2021, the police are again hunting news organizations. On December 29, the State Security charged with conspiracy to publish seditious publications, searched the "Stand News" office for more than four hours, seized more than 30 boxes of items, froze 61 million yuan of assets, and arrested seven people successively, including acting editor-in-chief Lin Shaotong, Former directors Zhong Peiquan, Zhou Dazhi, Wu Aiyi, Fang Minsheng and Ho Yunshi were arrested on the same day as former "Apple Daily" vice president Chen Peimin. Stand News immediately ceased operations, removed its website and social media content, and laid off all employees. Zhong Peiquan and Lin Shaotong were formally charged, and they were not allowed to bail.

Within a year, Hong Kong lost two mainstream news organizations.

Apple Daily faced the most difficult hurdle within a year of the implementation of the National Security Law under the government's action.

The truth is guilty

Radio Television Hong Kong's "Clanging Collection" revealed more clues about the July 21, 2019 Yuen Lang attack in the episode "7.21 Who Owns the Truth". The then editor and director Cai Yuling checked the license plate and confirmed that the owners of several vehicles carrying people in white They were all village representatives, and CCTV also saw that the suspected plainclothes police did not intercept or prevent the people in white from gathering, but it was precisely because of these new clues that she was arrested by the police.

On April 22 this year, Cai Yuling was convicted of two counts of making false statements and fined 6,000 yuan, the first time a reporter in Hong Kong was convicted of a book search. Cai Yuling shed tears outside the court and said, "Today's verdict is unpleasant and heartbreaking. This time the court has ruled not me, but the entire industry, and all the journalists in Hong Kong. Today's magistrate even sentenced us to do the same thing all the time. Effective, truth-seeking tools are sinful, and I strongly disagree.”

Judge Xu Qiwei stated that conducting interviews and reporting was not a matter of traffic and transportation, and it was not important whether the defendant had good motives for requesting information. Since then, many government departments have tightened the search, and the public can no longer access the full ID card numbers and usual addresses of company directors and secretaries. The Land Registry and the Companies Registry are forced to conduct real-name searches, setting up many barriers for journalists to report on investigations.

Cai Yuling shed tears outside the court and said: "This time the court decides not me, but the entire industry, all journalists in Hong Kong."

mouthpiece

In February of this year, Leung Ka-wing announced that he would resign as Director of Broadcasting six months early, and he would be replaced by Li Baiquan, an administrative officer with no broadcasting experience. To ensure that RTHK fully implements the RTHK Charter". That day, a reporter asked Liang Jiarong, "Are you afraid that after you leave, Hong Kong and Taiwan will become the official mouthpiece?" He did not respond.

On the day Li Baiquan took office in March, Wang Luxia, director of the public affairs group of the TV Department, resigned on the same day, and the producer of "Headline News" and "Hong Kong Story" also resigned successively. After Li Baiquan took office, many programs were selected, assistant program director Li Junya was not renewed after the investigation was restarted, Li Xianzhe, the producer of "Chong Keng Ji", was banned from producing the June 4th and 7.21 special topics and resigned, and Hong Kong and Taiwan issued an internal notice to disable The words "Taiwan President" and "Taiwan Government" should be renamed "Taiwan Region" and "Taiwan Authorities".

RTHK used to be a public broadcaster belonging to Hong Kong people, but many people say that RTHK is the same as Hong Kong, but it is different.

journalists under pressure

The representative of the largest trade union for journalists, the Hong Kong Journalists Association, has also been named and criticized by officials many times this year. The Secretary for Security, Tang Bingqiang, questioned the HKJA by name: "What media do your members come from?" "Does the HKJA treat people with different political affiliations differently?" you?"

Chen Langsheng, Chairman of the Journalists Association, said: "I tell you clearly and plainly that the Journalists Association has never confiscated any money from foreign forces. There is no need to write documents to ask us. The wrong message and the wrong number, the wrong message is used to tell the public, and the public should have an explanation.”

In the wave of disintegration of civic organizations, can the Association of Journalists persevere? Chen Langsheng said: "Everyone living in Hong Kong in September 2021 will understand that sometimes it is not up to us to decide whether to dissolve or not. When we took over, we knew that the environment was turbulent and we would not underestimate the pressure and difficulties, but we were very aware of the freedom of the press. It is very important, the rights and interests of the experts are very important, and it cannot be dismissed lightly.”

In May this year, the Journalists Association announced the Press Freedom Index for the past year. With a perfect score of 100, journalists rated 32.1 points, a record low. Among the 367 journalists interviewed, 90% believe that the freedom of the press in Hong Kong has regressed compared to a year ago, and as many as 85% of the respondents agree that the Hong Kong government is the source of suppression of press freedom, and 40% of the respondents said that their superiors have put pressure on them. Don't or underestimate the issue of Hong Kong independence.

Looking at the statistics of JUPAS application subjects, apart from HKBU, which has no latest data, the other three subsidized universities that offer journalism education, including CUHK, HKU, and CityU, choose to choose journalism or communication students this year. Both fell compared with the past two years. Among them, the University of Hong Kong and the City University of Hong Kong fell by nearly 30% this year compared with 2019.

According to the Press Freedom Index survey conducted by the Hong Kong Journalists Association this year, 85% of the respondents agree that the Hong Kong government is the source of suppression of press freedom.

Confused, helpless, helpless, numb

"I asked the students to use an adjective to describe the summer vacation just now. That summer vacation is where the most things happened. Many people said: confused, powerless, helpless, numb... Sometimes students are just interviewing the big news, as if Apple went bankrupt and just stood there. The Apple Building came forward for an interview, and they were directly in the eye of the wind. Very young reporters and student reporters had to face this and were forced to grow up. Maybe I couldn’t feel it at the moment, but when I got home, I realized that it had something to do with me. ”

The previous generation of reporters, watching the new generation of reporters enter the industry, experienced drastic changes in society. Chen Xizi, a senior lecturer at the School of Journalism and Communication at CUHK who stepped back from the front line, described it as "a meeting at the right time". He never thought that a large number of civic organizations would be disbanded and a large amount of news could be discovered. The new generation of journalists is the witness of this era.

She thinks this year has been a tough year for journalists. "What happened this year was unimaginable in the past, including the collapse of a large media organization, without trial or conviction, but the account was frozen, so it could not operate, and it would be closed; As journalists, we have all searched books, and we never imagined that we would be guilty of official injustice because of this. What happened this year, the intensity and density are very high, and it is very difficult for all journalists.”

With the implementation of the National Security Law and the brewing fake news law, she said that there are more and more red lines in society: "The red lines are not clear, how do you call a crime? Those who have not been interrogated actually did not say that they can or cannot be written. Everyone is groping.” For student reporters, there are fewer options for media organizations, some no longer exist, and some are under great pressure, “Will they do it for a while and then disappear? It seems that there is no prospect in sight, and it is impossible to do well. Plan your career.” Those who are left in the industry and those who are about to enter the industry are struggling.

However, Chen Xizi believes that the students who are still determined to enter the profession at this moment are more determined and firmer than before. They also admire the reporters who are still running news on the front line. Even if the environment is difficult, they still strive to make good reports. "This is something Hong Kong needs very much. If Hong Kong doesn't even bury the media, it will be even more impossible. The media is a big monitoring force, and monitoring often leads to social progress."

Chen Xizi said: "The media is a great monitoring force, and monitoring often leads to social progress."

our fighting spirit

Former "Apple Daily" reporter Chen Jueming, watching the company's assets frozen and forced to close down, wrote the final chapter of "Hong Kong people say goodbye in the rain: we support Apple", and has yet to receive the last salary. He is currently a freelance worker, explaining news events for "Stand News" and "D100" before the shutdown.

This year's experience has been traumatic for him. "Everyone has memories, memories of fighting together, and now searching for Apple Daily on the Internet, it seems that it never existed. This is something we never imagined in the past... That trauma and pain is an abnormal emotion." Except for oneself Experience, the changes in Hong Kong's social environment also affect his emotions, and the links are endless.

"Arrested, lost liberty, faced many charges, and in a very short period of time, not only did they lose their jobs, but they also faced many unknown risks, and it was not you alone, but a large group of people." He felt that "Apple Daily" "What I experienced is actually a part of the changing environment in Hong Kong.

He admitted frankly that he is not ready to return to the frontline work in the media, but believes that "this is the worst time and the best time", because the work of the media will never have an easy and happy year. Power, there will always be people and forces that will give us some difficulties. Of course, the difficulties we experienced at the moment were not fully prepared to face them in the past, and we did not have enough resources and training to face them, but I will not underestimate the experts. fighting spirit and perseverance.”

Chen Jueming felt that what Apple Daily experienced was actually part of the changing environment in Hong Kong.


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