The work environment for journalists in Hong Kong continues to deteriorate. Last month, Stand News editors were convicted of sedition. This week, the Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA) revealed a widespread harassment campaign against the city’s journalists, as announced in a press conference by HKJA Chairperson Selina Cheng. The Hong Kong Free Press reported on this “systematic and organized attack” against reporters from at least 13 media outlets in Hong Kong: 

Selina Cheng, chair of the Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA), said during a press conference on Friday that since June, dozens of journalists have received emails and letters with defamatory content to their home addresses, workplaces and other venues. The journalists targeted included those from Hong Kong Free Press, InMedia, HK Feature, and those who are members of the HKJA’s executive committee.

Fifteen journalists saw complaints sent to family members, landlords, employers and organisations they are associated with, Cheng said. Some of the complaints threatened recipients that if they continued to associate with the journalists, they could be breaching national security laws.

[…] The harassment also involved death threats, Cheng said. Online, photos were posted of journalists and members of the HKJA pictured alongside knives and shooting targets. Screenshots of these photos were then sent to journalists and their parents in a “clear effort to scare and intimidate them,” Cheng said. [Source]

Ng Kang-chung, Vivian Au, and Harvey Kong from the South China Morning Post described how the harassment campaign also involved death threats against 36 journalists on social media:

“Since at least August, users of several private Facebook groups have also posted hateful content against certain media outlets and journalists, portraying legitimate reporting as problematic or illegal, and baselessly accusing articles of being inflammatory,” it said.

“According to HKJA’s investigation, at least 36 journalists were identified in these Facebook posts, from multiple different outlets, education institutions and the HKJA itself.”

In at least four cases, “trolls used Facebook and Wikipedia to make threats of violence, including death threats”, the union added. [Source]

In July, Selina Cheng announced she was fired from the Wall Street Journal for refusing to withdraw from the HKJA, and worried that her firing would set a negative precedent for other journalists in Hong Kong. Reacting to the harassment campaign, she said: “This type of intimidation and harassment, which includes sharing false and defamatory content and death threats, damages press freedom in Hong Kong and we should not tolerate it. HKJA and I believe all journalists in Hong Kong welcome criticism and debate. This is not it.” The Hong Kong Free Press also released a statement condemning the harassment and noting that it had made police reports about these issues three times. It added, “Our team’s determination to report the news and continue our mission are never affected by acts of harassment.” Jessie Pang from Reuters shared other reactions from various media outlets and journalists who were targeted: 

Tom Grundy, director of Hong Kong Free Press, told Reuters his landlord and local property agencies were sent anonymous letters making “wild claims and threatening ‘unimaginable consequences’ and ‘collateral damage'” unless he was evicted.

Inmedia told Reuters one of its employees had received harassment messages. HK Feature said it was “shocked by the varying degrees of harassment of our journalists and their relatives”.

“We hope the public will take journalism work seriously and support our work, so that reporting can be free from fear,” it said. [Source]

Safety has been a growing issue for journalists in China and Hong Kong. Earlier this year, Radio Free Asia left Hong Kong after citing safety concerns for its staff. The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China’s annual report on media freedom from last month found that 81 percent of journalists had experienced interference, harassment, or violence, and 45 percent had encountered obstruction at least once by persons unknown, a rise from the previous year. Meanwhile, the HKJA’s own annual press freedom survey from last month showed that the public perceived a decrease in physical threats towards journalists in the past year, but that the city’s press freedom has plummeted to its lowest level since the HKJA index began in 2013.