Update | Darkest year 'in decades' for Hong Kong press: Journalists Association
Violence, financial pressure and anonymous government sources thwart reporters; but journalists have plan to combat self-censorship
Press freedom has reached its lowest level in decades, according to the Journalists Association.
"We reckon that Hong Kong's press freedom had its darkest year in several decades," association chairwoman Sham Yee-lan said yesterday. "As political pressure between Hong Kong and Beijing increases, we expect further deterioration in press freedom."
A meat cleaver attack on the former chief editor Kevin Lau Chun-to, the sacking of Commercial Radio talk-show host Li Wei-ling, and advertising boycotts against newspapers such as and were all cited by Sham as troubling incidents over the past year.
Police had also obstructed journalists from covering arrests at the July 2 sit-in in Central, and told them to leave.
"When journalists agreed to go into the press area, layers of police officers formed a human wall in front of them and they couldn't get a clear view of what was happening. We found that unnecessary," said association vice-chairwoman Shirley Yam.
