Code of silence: International media outlets press their Hong Kong staff to keep away from a local journalist association advocating for press freedom, or risk losing their jobs
In other parts of the world, getting elected to lead one’s local press group is a cause of celebration — a sign that a journalist has become a pillar of the professional community, esteemed and trusted by their colleagues. But for Selina Cheng, it was a cause for concern. The day after she was chosen by members of the Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA) to be their next chairperson, she told the China Media Project she was surprised not to have been immediately fired by her employer, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ). When senior editors learned about her plan to stand on the eve of the election, her supervisor at the WSJ’s international desk in London told her to withdraw and quit the HKJA’s executive committee, where she had already served for three years.
The hostility Cheng faced from her workplace, however, only steeled her resolve to give back to the community. “Reporters in Hong Kong know their editors or employers don’t always have their backs,” she said. “That’s why the JA is so important. We want other journalists to know we’re here for them.”
The relief, however, would not last long. Less than a month later, Cheng was fired by the Journal, with World Coverage Chief Gordon Fairclough appearing at the Hong Kong bureau to deliver her termination notice in person. The weeks in between, she realized, were merely to square things with legal and prepare the paperwork — and the HKJA’s first battle to defend press freedom under her leadership would be her own.
For Hong Kong’s embattled journalists, defending the free press has become a fight on two fronts: against both an increasingly authoritarian government and their own employers, based in the West and nominally committed to liberal principles.
