This is an accepted version of this page
 | |
Type of site | News |
|---|---|
| Available in | English |
| Headquarters | |
| Founder(s) |
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| URL | hongkongfp |
| Commercial | No |
| Registration | None |
| Launched | 29 June 2015; 9 years ago (2015-06-29) |
| Current status | Active |
Hong Kong Free Press (HKFP) is a free, non-profit[1] news website based inHong Kong. It was co-founded in 2015 by Tom Grundy, who believed that the territory'spress freedom was in decline, to provide an independent alternative to the dominant English-languagenewspaper of record in Hong Kong, theSouth China Morning Post.
The Hong Kong Free Press was co-founded by Tom Grundy in 2015.[2][3] Grundy was previously a social activist and a blogger who had lived in Hong Kong since around 2005.[4] He wrote the blog Hong Wrong and held annualInternational Pillow Fight Day commotions inCentral.[5] He was also known for attempting acitizen's arrest on former British Prime MinisterTony Blair.[6] He established HKFP in response to concerns about erodingpress freedom and media self-censorship in Hong Kong, with the aim of covering breaking news and topics such as thepro-democracy movement.[5]
HKFP aimed to provide quick news reports with context, which Grundy said Hong Kong's largest English-language newspaper, theSouth China Morning Post, does not do.[7] The owners of theSCMP have business interests in mainland China which has led to claims of biased coverage.[3]Reporters Without Borders placed Hong Kong at thirty-four in theirWorld Press Freedom Index in 2010, at seventieth in 2015.[3] By 2022, it had plunged well down the bottom quarter of the list in 148th of 180 countries surveyed.[8]
Crowdfunding for HKFP took place on Fringebacker and raised HK$150,000 (US$19,342) within two days.[9] The four weeks of fundraising in June 2015 generated around HK$600,000.[10]
Beginning in late 2015, Chinese authoritiesblocked access to the site inmainland China.[11]
In its first year of operation, HKFP published 4,400 news articles and commentaries and had over 3.5 million unique visitors.[12]
HKFP relocated from Cyberport to a co-working space inKennedy Town in late 2017.[13]
In early 2020, HKFP suspended its coverage for a website relaunch. In the relaunch, HKFP introduced its code of ethics andfact-checking policy and recruited two reporters.[14] Thenational security law, which came into force in the summer of 2020, means theHKFP may be under threat from the authorities in due course. InThe Guardian, Grundy wrote that he and his colleagues have made contingency plans for the newspaper to continue if they are legally threatened by the authorities or forced to leave the territory.[1]
HKFP writerStephen Vines left the city for the United Kingdom in August 2021 due to what he described as "white terror" under the national security law.[15] Vines would continue to write for HKFP, the newspaper announced.[16]
Veteran China scholarSuzanne Pepper wrote a regular column for HKFP from 2015 until her death in 2022.[17] HKFP also maintains Pepper's blog,Hong Kong Focus.[18]
In a 2022 public opinion survey conducted by theChinese University of Hong Kong, HKFP received a credibility rating of 5.50 out of 10 which was higher than the ratings forHeadline Daily (5.33),Oriental Daily News (5.25),HK01 (5.06) andTVB (5.01) but lower than the ratings forThe Standard (5.97),South China Morning Post (5.95) andMing Pao (5.72).[19] In the same CUHK survey conducted in 2019, HKFP had received a credibility rating of 5.56 out of 10.[20]
In December 2023, HKFP became a partner ofthe Trust Project consortium co-founded byGoogle News headRichard Gingras.[21][22]
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.[9] Tom Grundy, a freelance journalist, 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".[9]
Hong Kong Free Press was nominated for the2021 Nobel Peace Prize by NorwegianLiberal Party politiciansOla Elvestuen,Terje Breivik andJon Gunnes.[23][24]
He decided to launch a more serious site in December last year while covering Occupy demonstrations in the area.
The aim is to cover topics such as the ongoing battle for democracy as well as reporting on breaking news, all with insight and independence.
Også Elvestuen har foreslått aktivister fra Hongkong. Sammen med Terje Breivik og Jon Gunnes har han nominert det uavhengige nettstedet Hongkong Free Press.
