Work-in-Progress Workshop in Hong Kong Studies 2024 #6

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Title: Media Professionalism or Activism? Roles of Overseas Hong Kong Media Post-2019 Protests and National Security Laws

Presenter: Galileo Cheng, The University of British Columbia

Project type: Journal article

Abstract:

This study examines tensions between professional ideology and political responsibility in overseas Hong Kong journalism organizations, following the 2019 Anti-Extradition Law Amendment Bill (Anti-ELAB) movement, the National Security Law (NSL) and the Basic Law Article 23 legislation (Article 23). The media, particularly online media, played an indispensable part in cultivating the 2019 protests, and in contributing to the framings of the protests, counter to narratives deployed by the government and pro-Beijing media. Following the protests, many of these journalists left Hong Kong, formed overseas Hong Kong media, and are now playing a critical role in trying to fill the void left by the media shutdown under the NSL and Article 23. These overseas Hong Kong media facilitate a continuum of advocating Hong Kong’s democracy and freedom, continuing to act as a conduit for political movements and cultivating the highly politicized community abroad. Important questions emerge about how their journalistic work is affected by balancing and mitigating the challenges of media professionalism and political activism. Scholars have examined the diasporic media and found a similar set of tensions around the journalistic role and values of diasporic media in political transitions. Diasporic media across these countries formed transnational diaspora advocacy journalism that blurred the boundaries of professional, objective journalism with socially committed, motivated engagements. (Skjerdal, 2011; Oyeleye, 2017; Balasundaram, 2019; Arafat, 2021) This study uses framing and content analysis to examine this tension in journalism role performance by focusing on the coverage of two events of overseas Hong Kong media on overseas protests and cultural events where these arguments become palpable, and the ways the media negotiated them. This approach highlights what makes Hong Kong’s case unique and argues these overseas Hong Kong media fall between professional and advocacy media.

Keywords:
Diasporic Media, Hong Kong, Transnational Advocacy, Journalism Professionalism, National Security Law