Hong Kong Free Press
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| Non-profit | |
| Industry | Online newspaper |
| Founded | 29 June 2015 |
| Headquarters | Cyberport, Hong Kong |
| Website | hongkongfp |
Hong Kong Free Press (HKFP) is a free, non-profit online newspaper based in Hong Kong. It was founded by independent journalists in response to concerns over declining press freedom in the territory, to provide an alternative to the dominant English language news source, the South China Morning Post, and to provide quicker English coverage of local news.[1][2]
Beginning in late 2015, access to the site from Mainland China was blocked by the Chinese authorities.[3]
Background
Organisations such as Reporters Without Borders, the Committee to Protect Journalists, the Hong Kong Journalists Association and PEN America have all decried the state of press freedom in the city, which is often affected by self-censorship as publications avoid criticising Beijing in order to maintain advertising revenues.[1][4] The South China Morning Post, long considered the city's English-language newspaper of record, has been accused of political self-censorship since the paper was purchased in 1993 by Robert Kuok's Kerry Group, which has extensive investments in Mainland China.[5] Numerous senior staff have been purged from the Post since the 1990s, allegedly for political reasons.[6] In 2014, four more prominent columnists were sacked by the Post, writers who were "sometimes critical of Beijing and Hong Kong", with some analysts suspecting involvement by the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government.[7][5]
Newspapers and journalists have also increasingly been subject to physical attacks, including the firebombing of the home of publisher Jimmy Lai, an earlier offal attack on Lai, the firebombing of the Next Media headquarters, the chopping attack on former Ming Pao chief editor Kevin Lau, and assaults on various reporters by pro-government, anti-Umbrella Movement protesters in 2014.[8][9][10][11] In October 2014, a group of pro-Beijing protesters physically blocked distribution of Apple Daily for nearly a week by obstructing the driveway of the printing facility.[12][13]
Inception
Crowdfunding for the venture took place on Fringebacker and aimed to raise HK$150,000 during a one-month period to support two journalists. The $150,000 was raised in only two days and so the goal was raised to $500,000.[14] The fundraising campaign concluded in June 2015 with more than $600,000 raised. HKFP took on more journalists and contributors and established headquarters in the offices of D100 in Cyberport. The full website was formally launched on 29 June 2015.
In the long term, HKFP plans to achieve financial sustainability through "continued crowdfunding efforts, advertising and sponsorship events" and by operating with minimal overhead costs.[14] Tom Grundy, a freelance journalist who co-founded the website, stated that the site would "start with simple local news, and investigative pieces about Hong Kong" and that "we have no political agenda. We simply aim to be credible".[14]
References
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