Enemies of the Press: The 10 Worst Offenders of 1997
On May 3, in conjunction with World Press Freedom Day, CPJ announced its annual choices of the top 10 Enemies of the Press worldwide. Those who made the list this year, as in the past, earned the dubious distinction by exhibiting particular zeal for the ruthless suppression of journalists. For the second consecutive year, the…
Press Freedom Under the Dragon: Special Report on Hong Kong
Six journalists–from Croatia, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Russia, Taiwan, and the United States–who have risked their freedom and their lives to report the news will receive the 1997 International Press Freedom Awards from the Committee to Protect Journalists. The recipients are Christine Anyanwu, imprisoned editor in chief of the independent Nigerian news weekly The Sunday Magazine;…
The Self-Censorship Myth
I am very happy to announce that self-censorship, a phenomenon that has been disturbing the journalistic circle in Hong Kong for many years, is dead. As a matter of fact, it never existed. Let’s be realistic. We should stop calling the sickness “self-censorship” and name it what it really is–censorship. Front-line journalists seldom censor themselves….
The Case of Jimmy Lai: Hong Kong’s Press Freedom Canary?
Those looking to take the measure of China’s attitude toward Hong Kong’s outspoken press may not need to wait for macroeconomic changes. Beijing has already expressed its distaste for Hong Kong’s independent journalism in the case of media magnate Jimmy Lai. The flamboyant millionaire has built a media empire in a very short time by…
The Self-Censorship Myth
I am very happy to announce that self-censorship, a phenomenon that has been disturbing the journalistic circle in Hong Kong for many years, is dead. As a matter of fact, it never existed. Let’s be realistic. We should stop calling the sickness “self-censorship” and name it what it really is‹censorship. Front-line journalists seldom censor themselves.…
China’s Journalists: Breaking Free
It was at the end of my year teaching journalism as a Fulbright lecturer at Fudan University in Shanghai, and one of my best students was talking about his future. “I don’t want to go into journalism,” he said. “It’s too depressing. You can’t be a real journalist.” I had been in China for almost…
Knight Errant of Hong Kong’s Press Web Site Chronicles Transition
When Australian journalist Alan Knight started thinking about the impending changes in Hong Kong, he saw a job to be done documenting the attitudes of local and foreign journalists in the soon-to-be former colony. Knight moved to Hong Kong in early 1997 and began producing Dateline: Hong Kong, a Web site devoted to press and…