In 2020, the “National Security Law” of the port area was passed. In August of this year, the “Apple Daily” company was searched by the police on a large scale. In June of this year, five high-level “Apple” officials were arrested, hundreds of police officers again ransacked the company building, and the assets of three related companies were frozen. On June 26, Hong Kong’s “Apple Daily”, which had been published for 26 years, was suspended and the last issue, commonly known as “Fu Shou Edition”, was published. An era in Hong Kong newspapers came to a heavy end.
Hong Kong reporters in this era, especially those born in the 90s who were relatively young, were cut into the media industry and suffered heavy losses. In recent years, Hong Kong’s press freedom has entered a cold winter. In 2020 and 2021, Hong Kong will remain at the 80th place in the middle and lower reaches of the global press freedom rankings. When the death of a newspaper makes the headlines, what do you think of the young reporters who have worked hard behind them? But in the future, as Hong Kong enters a totalitarian society, what is the use of the journalist’s ambition? What is the meaning of persistence? Crooked Nao reporter interviewed three reporters who had different journeys, but all experienced the graduation of “Apple Daily” together: Gan Zai, A Ming, and Chen Jing.
This manuscript is too “yellow”
“I often hear people say how beautiful and free the media industry in Hong Kong used to be, but I have never experienced the era of freedom of the press.” Among the three, A Ming is a latecomer. He joined the industry in 2018 and worked as a free newspaper. Both online media and the two media have strong organizational colors. He studied economics, but chose to study for a master’s degree in journalism. Before joining the industry, his father didn’t understand, and questioned that he could be an office worker or a banker, but he went to join the “sunset industry.”
“I really want to be a reporter. I work in a free newspaper, “speculate articles” every day (review and rewrite the relevant reports of news agencies and other media), read what other newspapers report, condense and rewrite it as my own report. The restrictions are very limited. The space that can be obtained is to go out to do one or two special interviews, but the boss also stated that the theme can only highlight the community’s human care and so on. After that, I went to the online media and changed the order day by day. I was criticized from time to time for interviews. “Huang” interviewee, the manuscript is too “Huang”. In fact, you can criticize my lack of strength and some problems in writing, but you criticize me for finding interviewees who do not conform to the position of the media? Reporters can not ask for news with fear. real.”
He remembered the 2019 district council elections, when the media boss in office made a list of nearly 200 pan-democratic candidates and asked all reporters not to visit the people on the list. At that time, he had already written several special interviews. Seeing that the names of the interviewees were on the list, he was shocked. It turns out that there will be a day when the interview cannot be published. He is deeply unhappy about this and he does not know how to face the interviewee.
With the outbreak of the anti-transmission movement in 2019, the “yellow and blue views” extended to the media sector, and many media were defined as “red media”, “blue media”, and “yellow media.” Journalists in the industry do not want to seek the truth. However, reporters in the organized media often have a situation like Amin. “Media” reporter interviewed.
I found that most of the media in the industry are like this. In 2020, Amin will be a freelance journalist, but he found that writing a topic in his free capacity requires a lot of time and it is difficult to make a living. Until this year, under the introduction of Ganzi, A Mingcheng worked as an Apple reporter for three days.
Apple’s “Forever” and “One Day”
Open the last issue of “Apple Daily” and you will see a small section about Amin’s story. As the last newcomer to join in Apple’s last moments, he feels that he is of great significance, but he does not worry about whether his career may be blocked or other issues. On June 21, Amin went to work on the first day and took a shuttle bus to the new owner’s building that had been searched. On June 17, he had just experienced a high-level arrest and a large number of computers and information were taken by the police. He always wondered, what will the atmosphere be like there? If everyone is panicking, will they be able to motivate them a little by joining them?
“Because everyone is shocked, afraid of being arrested, and planning to resign. It should be very motivating to have a young man come and advance with everyone. I am not really afraid. I just arrived at the building and prepared to pass through the gate with a staff ID. At the time of the machine, my boss came over and told me that if you want to change your mind, you can leave immediately. But I have always said that it is not guilty to be a journalist.”
So came to a new environment. The weird thing is that he heard a lot of laughter, and the company atmosphere was like a large farewell party, with many people taking pictures as a souvenir, and there was no working atmosphere. The first and last task he received was to interview people on the street to see how Apple would close its business at any time. Be the Apple people on the first day, to interview everyone’s views on Apple’s dying. Other media also noticed that Amin called for an interview and followed up with the film, but he refused one by one, and finally only made a brief phone interview.
“I am also a reporter, can you give me time to work professionally to the last minute?”
Although Amin’s father opposed him becoming a reporter at the beginning, the two elders in the family are also moved by Amin’s enthusiasm and support him as a reporter. Even on the first day of his employment, his family cooked a rich dinner for him to celebrate. Even if there was no end in the three days, Amin’s mother was still optimistic. Being a mother always wants her son to be happy, Amin said. On the last day of working at Apple, the media asked him how he felt. He bluntly said that in fact, he only wants to be a reporter and run the news for the purpose of seeking truth, not murder and arson. Why is it so difficult?
The boss parted and chatted with Amin for a while, and mentioned that Hong Kong’s media ecology will inevitably usher in fragmentation. No large media company can integrate all the public recognition. “As for whether it will change to be like the mainland, where freelance journalists write articles and secretly send them to overseas Chinese media for publication? I don’t know. Anyway, under the great fate, many things are beyond the reporter’s turn, and the red line is erratic. , Then you don’t have to deliberately evade, as before, stay professional and report the facts.”
“I think I was a reporter when I was arrested”
In contrast, Gan Zi, a Hong Kong news reporter who brought A Ming to Apple, was still emotional when he talked about his three-day experience at Apple.
Ganzi worked as a Hong Kong news editor at Apple in 2017, and worked as a special reporter for an online media from 2018 to 2020, and met A Ming. When he left Internet media and joined Apple again, the Apple Building had been searched by the police for the first time, but Gan Zi’s inner goal was clear-this return is to accompany Apple to the last minute.
“Since the establishment of the National Security Law, I have judged that the “Apple Daily” will not stay long. After the legislation, the “Apple Daily” must be dealt with. Therefore, I have been mentally prepared for the job and will not store too much access information on the company’s computer. When I finally graduated, my personal belongings in the company were quickly cleared.”
Gan Zai remembers that in late June, when the district council was facing the “DQ” (disqualification of district councilor), the government introduced a policy to require all district councilors to swear oaths. If they are suspected of taking an oath in good faith, they will lose their seats and face compensation payments at any time. risks of. Gan Zai visited several district councillors whether to leave or stay. Everyone joked to each other: “I don’t know if the district councilor resigned first or the “Apple Daily” closed first.” Time went back to June 21. At that time, she thought that Apple’s life would end this weekend as previously reported, but the news continued to spread, and people were panicked. Coupled with the arrest of another senior Apple writer on Wednesday morning, Apple was suspended early, and it immediately became the last issue published on Wednesday.
In the end, she originally interviewed a district councillor who was determined to stay, but the interview could not be published.
“I think that interview can motivate everyone. The company stopped operating at midnight on Wednesday night, and some colleagues resigned on Monday. By Wednesday night, a plan was proposed, that is, the editor-in-chief Chen Peimin Sign papers and fire colleagues who want to resign. If you still want to stay, you can only leave your identity until Apple really closes someday in the future. At that time, I couldn’t forgive those colleagues who were laughing and waiting for the farewell, because some people still wanted There are many people who hold back all kinds of sadness and rush to work on the “Fu Shou Edition”. I came myself just to keep it till the end.”
However, the editor-in-chief Chen Peimin, who was arrested on the 17th in connection with national security laws, could only take this last opportunity to do his best for his colleagues. Gan Zai recalled that she resigned on Friday after Apple suspended operations. She is currently in custody, and most of her management has lost her freedom. Gan Zi felt that Chen Peimin also wanted to stay till the last moment.
Seeing the severe situation, some colleagues raised their hands to resign, and Gan Zi finally raised his hands in tears. The ideal is left to the end, now there is only a sense of humiliation that lingers in my mind. She confessed that for almost a month, she was in a trance every day, and she had some job opportunities, but she couldn’t promote her motivation. After talking with friends a lot, she continued to be like mud afterwards. Regarding the search for the next owner, Gan Zi said frankly that she has no clear idea, but she hopes that in the future, when she is unable to recover, she can be arrested as a reporter.
There is a violet in the house, which she obtained from the atrium of the building when she returned to the Apple building on Thursday to return the staff card. There are many Apple publications over the years, monthly calendar cards, and the 2014 Umbrella Movement “I Want True Universal Suffrage” stickers. She caught a glimpse of the calendar card designed by Next Magazine this year. There are many well-known quotations from the editors, authors, and interviewees of Next Magazine. The slogan is “20 Two One, Support Together”.
“Together, we can’t end this year.” She took Violet, returned to her seat, logged into the intranet, and backed up her past manuscripts. “Continuing to report on the’reality’ of’people’ in this time and space is my goal of continuing to be a reporter in Hong Kong…. I just want to stay where I can exert my most influence and face the reality.”
Running the news is to seek truth, not to murder and arson. Why is it so difficult?
Like watching colleagues hit the ground one after another
A Ming and Gan Zi are special reporters, but Chen Jing is a photographer who specializes in shooting video reports. He has worked in the Apple Supplement “Fruit Seed” for two and a half years. At the beginning, she belonged to an independent production studio that had been cooperating with Guozi for a long time. Later, she moved to Guozi to work. Until the last night of Apple Daily, she was still editing the last video report. The video was cut at 7 pm and the video report was uploaded at 9 am. As soon as it was midnight, as all readers had witnessed, all reports on the Apple Daily website were deleted and the app ceased operation.
“After finishing work, I will return to the Apple Building in Tseung Kwan O to visit my colleagues. But first I want to feel the feeling of being supported by readers outside the building.” Chen Jingyi said, A Ming and Gan Zi immediately laughed.
On the last night of “Apple Daily”, many readers outside the building came to support it. Until the early morning, when the last issue was printed, the employees in the building took out several batches to send to the waiting readers.
Chen Jing said that since last year, Guozi’s boss has clearly ordered his colleagues not to do politically sensitive topics and return to general reporting on culture and art supplements. She is dissatisfied with this restriction or for the safety of her colleagues, but she does not want to witness Hong Kong’s getting worse and worse while producing irrelevant life information that encourages readers to entertain. Parting Yiyi, Chen Jing and a colleague of journalists decided to make an extra to record the last generation of “fruit seeds” colleagues, and add a brief impression every time a photo was taken. Chen Jing thinks that hundreds of copies can be printed and sent to the market for free. I hope readers can know what kind of people are behind the scenes reporters who have accompanied you with reports in the past.
However, in a totalitarian society, such a move may also have a lot of implications. On July 22, the “Hong Kong Speech Therapist Federation” established by a group of professional speech therapists launched a children’s picture book “Guardians of the Sheep Village” with the theme of the story in the return and the protagonist of the sheep and the wolf, which attracted Hong Kong. The National Security Agency came to arrest. A total of 5 union directors were arrested. It is understood that the National Security Department alleged that the picture book is suspected of violating Article 10 of the Criminal Offences Ordinance, that is, “conspiracy to publish, display, or copy seditious publications whose contents cause others to hate the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government.”
After the Yangcun Picture Book incident, I asked Chen Jing about the status of the extra issue. She also said that she didn’t know the consequences of publishing as originally planned.
“No one knows what the red line is. No matter what you write or how you write it, you can imagine the government accusing you of fake news and arousing hatred. The space for reporting news will definitely become narrower, or even not, as if you are watching your colleagues one after another. Shot and fell to the ground. In a totalitarian society, continue to report the truth and tell the truth. Individuals must live upright and sincere.”
“Instead, I want to be a reporter even more.”
When Hong Kong’s media environment is getting closer and closer to China’s, how do Chinese media respond to system surveillance? Fang Kecheng, a reporter from China who is now teaching at the School of Journalism and Communication of Chinese University, pointed out in an interview that working as a reporter in Mainland China will inevitably have a large number of articles that will never be sent out. Journalists and editors receive daily notifications from the provincial propaganda departments, listing which news cannot be reported, which news can be reported but not too reverberant, and which news encourages media coverage.
Media that violated the instructions of the Ministry of Propaganda may face reports being deleted and reporters writing reviews. In serious cases, newspapers and periodicals may not be published and reporters may be fired. Fang Kecheng further analyzed that because all the media in mainland China have the surname “Party” and the Party has the power to live and kill, reporters must “kneel and rebel” because they are in the party-state system and face a lot of self-censorship every day. , For example, pay attention to the publication time, which month is more sensitive. Citizen reporters are more dangerous than ordinary reporters because they are never in the system and are difficult to control. Therefore, when the new crown epidemic broke out in Wuhan, Hubei, one of the citizen reporters, Chen Qiushi, was forcibly taken away and disappeared for more than a year.
However, most of the media in Hong Kong are privately owned, and sometimes the position of the boss is that of the media. In the past, Hong Kong media classified as the pan-democratic spectrum included the “Apple Daily” and some online media. However, according to the media published in print newspapers, only “Apple Daily” represented the voice of the pan-democrats. Dao Daily, Oriental Daily, Ming Pao, which is a neutral and partial organizational system, and Ta Kung Pao and Wen Wei Po of Gen Zheng Miaohong. Whenever the “July 1st” celebration returns, the above-mentioned newspapers reserve the front page to publish congratulatory advertisements. Only the “Apple Daily” does not see the advertisements. Netizens have been taking pictures for many years, forming a unique newspaper scene every year, which no longer exists. . Freedom of the press is declining, and the above-mentioned monitoring similar to that of the Chinese media is getting closer and closer. The future of the Hong Kong media industry is unpredictable, but there are still young practitioners who go on board the ship.
Looking back at Apple’s last days, Amin felt that even in just three short days, he could be regarded as witnessing that he finally achieved what he wanted to do and came to a media that still had a little freedom. Even after three days, Apple Daily “ended.
“After three days, I want to be a reporter even more.” A Ming smiled.
Gan Zi wants to continue to be a reporter until the very last moment. “I know that space will gradually wither, until the independent media I want to do is gone, I will become a citizen journalist, but at the same time I must have a full-time support for my livelihood.”
Chen Jing, who considers herself pessimistic, said the bottom line of her choice. “Don’t be a totalitarian accomplice. Although I am a pessimist, or I may not continue to be a reporter in the future, I can go to make a documentary. There are always many things I can do. Don’t lie flat and try to fight for it.”
(The interviewees in this article are all pseudonyms)