Hong Kong Free Press is the city’s only non-profit, independent English-language newspaper. On World Press Freedom Day, we are inviting readers to make a monthly commitment to help keep us sustainable.
HKFP is not answerable to any corporate entity, business tycoon or mainland Chinese conglomerate, and we have secured a sponsor to help employ a business manager to diversify our income streams. However, direct funding from a diluted group of supporters is – without doubt – the best strategy when it comes to safeguarding our independence.
We are not beholden to shareholders or advertisers – we are answerable only to ourselves and our readers. This gives us the capacity to report freely, when and where it is needed most.
The current HKFP team: Editor-in-Chief Tom Grundy, Senior Reporter Karen Cheung, Intern Hermina Wong, Editorial Advisor Tim Hamlett, Reporter Chantal Yuen and Editorial Director Kris Cheng.
World Press Freedom Day
The 2016 United Nations World Press Freedom Day focuses on three themes: Freedom of information as a fundamental right, protecting the press from censorship and surveillance overreach and ensuring safety for journalism online and offline.
The annual event “highlights the links between press freedom, a culture of openness and the right to freedom of information, and sustainable development in the digital age”.
As a non-profit, HKFP is structured to ensure we are protected from the threats Hong Kong is facing on the press freedom front.
Despite being censored in mainland and obstructed by the government at home, our team has produced almost 4,000 news stories and comment pieces since our launch last June. Despite these challenges and our limited resources, in January we invested more in original reporting and features.
More original reporting in 2016
- In the first four months of this year alone, we followed the bookseller disappearances closely with special features, history pieces and explainers. We reported on the HKU Council debacle in detail, sparked a debate about gentrification in Sham Shui Po and gave special coverage to press freedom and censorship issues locally and nationally.
- This year, we carried features on topics such as the plight of refugees, sexual harassment, the Sea Shepherd activist ship, contraception, poverty, the Philippine elections, a strike by market stallholders and the plight of domestic workers.
- We also broke news on subjects such as government misspending, identity, crime and censorship and offered the best rolling coverage in English of the Taiwan elections.
- We interviewed a journalist ejected from China, academic Timothy O’Leary, authors Leta Hong Fincher and Louisa Lim, district councillor Paul Zimmerman and others.
- HKFP’s Kris Cheng was on the frontlines, providing multimedia coverage, throughout February’s unrest in Mong Kok. We also gave timely and detailed coverage and analysis of the Panama Papers leaks and how their relevance to Hong Kong.
- HKFP also live-blogged the Policy Address and Hong Kong budget this year.
HKFP Patrons
If you have enjoyed our coverage this year, please become a member of our community and consider making a monthly donation as an HKFP Patron. Regular contributions – of any amount – allow us to plan ahead and invest in our reporting. Our office space is donated and our costs are kept down through the use of free digital tools. Every cent goes towards supporting our staff.
Click to visit FringeBacker to set up a regular donation
It is easy to sign up via FringeBacker, and you can cancel at any time. Be sure click on “Make this a monthly backing“. Mastercard, Visa, Maestro, American Express, UnionPay, PayPal, cheque or bank transfer are accepted.
Other ways to help
Please click here for other ways to support us. One-off contributions, Bitcoin or micro-donations are also most welcome. The best way to support us (with no fees at either side) is by cheque.
