[Yahoo News, Discrete Hong Kong Reporters Series Report]Hong Kong’s ranking in the World Press Freedom Index plummeted from 80th to 148th in one year, although the incoming Chief Executive Li Jiachao said that press freedom “has been in our pockets.” “But the reality is that some journalists have expressed their stance in action, choosing to leave Hong Kong to become a separated group, hoping to regain the freedom to be free from fear when working in journalism, and continue to report overseas as separated journalists. It is no longer possible to record journalists in Hong Kong. The written history of Hong Kong.
Ka Fai (pseudonym) is a former “Apple Daily” reporter who left Hong Kong in November last year. “In the middle of the year, I saw another colleague being arrested. I don’t know how many people I ended up pulling. At that time, I also felt that the way to be a reporter in Hong Kong was over. After all, if you want to continue working as a reporter, it’s not worth staying low.” In order to leave as soon as possible, he chose to settle in Taiwan first, hoping to find an opportunity to apply for emigration to other countries.
Although he was about to leave Hong Kong, he was determined to continue to be a journalist overseas, “At least he wanted to record the lives of Hong Kong people overseas, write the stories of exiled Hong Kong people, and record what journalists in Hong Kong could no longer write. History of Hong Kong.”
Freelance cooperation and then experience media outage
When he first arrived in Taiwan, he had the opportunity to report for other Hong Kong media as a freelance reporter. “At that time, I felt that people were overseas, and I was very satisfied when I was in Hong Kong!” “It’s all buried (out of service) right now, I feel like there is no way out, and the platform has disappeared.”
He later joined the newly established Chinese news platform and continued to write news and interviews with people concerned by overseas Hong Kong people, as well as follow up on Hong Kong news. This model is a bit like his work in the newspaper office in the past. Although he may not necessarily write first-hand news, he can find an angle worth following up from the news that has been reported by the Hong Kong media. “Maybe people have not done enough. Well, if it’s not deep enough, I will highlight it to let everyone know.”
Follow up on the epidemic to discover angles that Hong Kong media did not pay attention to
For example, under the fifth wave of the epidemic, many Hong Kong people waited for several days to receive the test results after receiving nucleic acid tests. At that time, many officials’ relatives, drivers and secretaries were diagnosed, but among these officials, some of them were the fastest. He announced on the same day that his test was negative, “I have to wait for many days to understand the public? Is it because the government and the people have treated unfairly?” Ka Fai emphasized that he did not intend to criticize the experts in Hong Kong, “I know that everyone is working hard, and I understand that there are difficulties, but I don’t know that it is Mi Mi. The media organizations have other considerations.” In the new era, the media pointed out that the government made mistakes or was put on the line. “Everyone will be shocked. The media most willing to make trouble with the government have not posted it. Others will naturally worry about the next wave. Some newspapers have added a “disclaimer” to themselves, but everyone should appreciate that reporter Zhong You continues to do it.”
Thanks to the Internet world, Ka Fai said that he could contact different interviewees only by phone, and he was grateful for their willingness to be interviewed even if they knew they were calling from overseas. “I think they (the interviewees) are very brave.” The Hong Kong government or public organizations will still reply to inquiries, so they can continue to write reports. However, he also admitted that there are limitations, such as the lack of on-the-spot sense and personal experience, which made the report pale, “During the epidemic, I felt the worst, Taiwan was so safe at the time, and I couldn’t feel the tragic situation and panic in Hong Kong at all, so I didn’t write enough posts. I had no choice but to ask my Hong Kong friends to share it, but the report was not comprehensive enough, and I felt that no matter how much effort I put into it, I would not be able to write better than myself in Hong Kong.”
Concerned about safety reports, I dare not write anonymously
He now pays attention to Hong Kong affairs most of the day, “as if he doesn’t know what’s going on in Taiwan.” Most are from Hong Kong.
The freedom of the press in Hong Kong is not what it used to be. Ka Fai bluntly said that in Taiwan, he can feel that it is a free society. For example, seeing the banner of promoting independence is a daily life in the local area. There is a free atmosphere in the place, and his journalist work still needs to be done step by step. He has many security concerns and needs to take adequate security measures. “I don’t dare to report my real name, and I feel that I am getting farther and farther from returning to Hong Kong.” He did not hesitate to say , his family once warned him when he left Hong Kong, “It’s hard to do this when you go to other places.” “But I know in my heart that I can’t put it down, and I know it’s important to do something meaningful.”
He also stated another reason why he hopes to continue to write news for Hong Kong: “You (himself) are overseas, but the people of the class (reporters still in Hong Kong) Zhong dare to continue to do it, Zhong has the courage to face the challenge, I am both I don’t want to give up, I’ll just be more careful, try my best to keep my identity secret, and if I have to deal with sensitive topics, I’ll be more careful to protect myself.”
Russian and Burmese journalists also leave their hometowns
In fact, in Jiahui’s eyes, freedom of the press is nothing more than “don’t want to self-censor”, and he admits that his goals are not high, “I have been a reporter for so many years, don’t think about the way of news, I just want to go back to write news before the National Security Law. State, before 2020, click to write news, and family will write; when overseas, use a level of freedom to discuss news, there is no reason to tie a red line to death.” And from time to time overseas, he has to fight alone, he said. Instead, he didn’t have the time and space to grieve the spring and the autumn. “But it’s not fun to have a group of people doing news together.”
Hong Kong journalists leave Hong Kong but continue to write about Hong Kong. Ka Fai said that it is impossible for him to withdraw from his past life experience and identity. “My expertise is to write about Hong Kong. The tentacles and skills are still there. If it is not Hong Kong, I believe there is a good chance to consider changing careers. He also said that in fact, there are journalists in Russia and Myanmar who leave their hometowns and then write about their hometowns. On the other hand, the situation in Hong Kong is already better. At least Hong Kong people have a stronger habit of using the Internet, so that separated journalists can follow everyone in Hong Kong through the Internet. Closer, “I can feel the effect of writing a report at least.”