Following the suspension of the "Stance News" on December 29, another online media, "Zhongxin" also announced yesterday (2nd) that it would suspend operations due to the deterioration of the social environment.
Several media outlets have ceased operations within a year, causing the outside world to pay attention to how Hong Kong's media ecology will continue.
Net media "Independent Media" founder Ye Yincong said on a commercial channel program this morning (3rd) that the current media ecology is facing more and more pressures, all of which are political pressures in nature, and "Independent Media" itself is no exception. But since he is no longer involved in daily operations, he doesn't know what internal plans are.
He did not agree with Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor's statement that "the government is criticized every day, so there is no chilling effect."
+1
Ye Yincong pointed out that the original purpose of "Independent Media" was related to the political atmosphere in 2003 and 2004. At that time, a group of cultural people believed that the media needed autonomy and should no longer rely on traditional big media. In this form of operation, "every time (the established Internet media) has to return to us", but he has not participated in the editing work in the past 6 or 7 years, and the publisher is not him.
Ye pointed out that the early days of the establishment itself may not be expected to last for a long time. "It may be implemented for a period of time." However, it is mainly a financial problem. The main pressure facing the media is obviously not finances, but the government's public power. .
He disagreed with Chief Executive Carrie Lam’s claim that the "chilling effect does not exist". At the time, what Carrie Lam was referring to was that "the criticism of the government still exists." However, the nature of the two is obviously different and there is a suspicion of "stealing the concept." Some pro-organizational media do severely criticize the government, but the political meaning behind it is definitely different from that of media regarded as opposition.
He pointed out that the criticism of the government by the established media may be regarded as a kind of "factional struggle between the pro-government camp." He also does not hope that Hong Kong's media ecology will only be left with the internal contradictions of the pro-government camp.
In reply to the reporter of "Hong Kong 01", Ye pointed out that the current cases related to "Apple Daily" and "Stance News" have not yet reached the formal trial stage, and it is difficult to discuss the so-called "boundary." This is the source of the chilling effect. "The more unclear the boundary, the greater the chilling effect. It will surprise everyone."
Ye Yincong.
(Profile picture)
Said that information will be more fragmented and encourage rumors
Ip Yincong pointed out that Hong Kong has always been an cosmopolitan city, and the flow of information on the Internet has been developed, but it has not been strictly controlled. One of the uses of the media is to check the authenticity of information.
When one of the media’s positions disappears, it will only fragment the supporters of that camp and make relevant information more difficult to check, which may instead encourage rumors.
Live | "Zhongxin" will be suspended from tomorrow, the chief writer Yang Jianxing will see the media to explain the suspension. Zhongxin announces that the suspension will start on January 4: in the crisis, we must first ensure the safety of everyone on board
/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/prisa/ELHCUHQRSFERVA3HKYGKZVLACM.jpg)
