Three months after the 25th anniversary of Hong Kong’s return to China, a new report reveals the extent of declining press freedom on the island, which has set a new record for the third year in a row.
The past year has been marked by an increase in abuses against journalists, including the closure of three major organizations and judicial harassment of media professionals and advocates.
The Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA) annual press freedom index reveals the impact of these government actions on the former British colony’s private media companies.
Persecution of media professionals on the rise in Hong Kong
The HKJA report is based on two surveys: a survey given to media professionals and a survey given to the public.
The researchers’ conclusion is that islanders question the effectiveness of the press as a “watchdog” or watchdog in the idea of the protector of society, in an increasingly oppressive scenario for the industry.
The latest press freedom ranking, which represents the views of media professionals, fell to 26.2% this year from 32.1% last year. The figure represents the biggest drop since HKJA launched the index in 2013.
More than half of those surveyed said that freedom of the press was further restricted after 2020. 97% of all interviewed journalists said that they believed that freedom of the press has decreased, which was perceived by 53.5% of the public.
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The 0.5-point decrease in the report based on general public perception compared to 2020 is directly attributed to two indicators: the difference of opinion in the local media and the media’s reluctance to criticize the central government.
Freedom of the press for journalists has been undermined mainly by the significant decline in four ranking indicators: the effectiveness of the media as “watchdogs”, hesitancy to criticize the government, diversity of opinions and self-censorship.
Access the full report in this link.
Association worsens press freedom 2021
In a statement, HKJA said the journalistic environment in Hong Kong had “deteriorated dramatically over the past year”.
The group cited Apple Daily closing in June 2021, Stand News closing last December, and Citizen News closing in January.
Executives and editors at Apple Daily and Stand News still face prosecution under national security laws or colonial-era riot law after their newsrooms were raided.
“As a direct result of a shrinking news industry, less information in the public interest is available and what remains accessible is becoming more homogeneous than diverse,” the association says.
Persecution of the press in Hong Kong began in 2014 during the pro-democracy “Umbrella Movement”, when journalists were the first targets of violence by the island’s police and pro-Beijing supporters.
Five years later, the violence intensified during demonstrations of the “anti-extradition” bill, and hundreds of journalists fell victim to police brutality.
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The situation worsened further with the passage of the National Security Law in June 2020, which punishes the crimes of “terrorism”, “separatism”, “destruction” and “collision with foreign powers”, including journalists, with life imprisonment. main targets.
Last year, the government that runs the area shut down two independent organizations, Apple Daily and Stand News. In January of this year, Online newspaper Citizen News is the third newspaper to be forced to close in six months.
For the report, the HKJA interviewed 169 people working in the media and 1,016 people from the general public in May. The association emphasizes that it is noteworthy to achieve a response rate of 22.9% compared to 82.8% last year:
“Some of the journalists we turned to for the survey said they feared the association would come into the limelight from the authorities and therefore fear retaliation for completing a survey conducted by the HKJA.”
The organization added that the ability of the press to operate in a “free and safe environment” will be “important” to maintaining Hong Kong’s status as an international financial centre.
The report comes out after the press conference
The report’s release comes a day after the island’s Chief Executive, John Lee, attended an event for media professionals celebrating China’s National Day. On this occasion, the politician told reporters to convey the “right message from Hong Kong” to the world.
HKFP has been denied access to the invite-only event. The government justified its veto by first referring to covid-19, then claiming the incident was “for Chinese vehicles only” – which did not happen.
At the event questioned by the association, an official stated that only “traditional media” were invited.
In his speech, Lee warned journalists to distinguish right from wrong and stay away from “fake media” and “bad elements” that “destroy press freedom”.
Officials said they were considering enacting a “fake news” law to combat disinformation. According to the association, critics say the new law could be designed to restrict news agencies and further stifle press freedom.
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source: Noticias
