A former Wall Street Journal reporter in Hong Kong accuses the paper of firing her over her role leading a press union and advocating for press freedom in the Chinese city.
Reporter Selina Cheng said her supervisor at the Journal told her to withdraw from running for the chair of the Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA) as employees "should not be seen as advocating for press freedom in a place like Hong Kong", Cheng says.
Reporter Selina Cheng said her supervisor at the Journal told her to withdraw from running for the chair of the Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA) as employees "should not be seen as advocating for press freedom in a place like Hong Kong", Cheng says.
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NewsTranscript
00:00This morning I was fired from the Wall Street Journal. I am appalled that the
00:05first press conference I'm giving as HKJA's new chair is to announce that I
00:09was fired for taking up this position in a press union. The editor said
00:16employees of the journal should not be seen as advocating for press freedom in
00:20a place like Hong Kong, even though they can in Western countries where it is
00:25already established. She acknowledged that Hong Kong's press freedom is coming
00:31under severe challenges. She said the journal continues to report on incidents
00:36related to press freedom in the city, such as trials against the press,
00:42so having its employees advocating for it would create a conflict. I think a
00:49media publisher or a news outlet cannot be saying that they are supporting or
00:55standing for media freedom if they actively prevent their employees from
00:59doing the same.