(Photo by Kyle Lam, HKFP)
The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines is in solidarity with Selina Cheng, who has been fired by the Wall Street Journal for her involvement in and leadership of the Hong Kong Journalists Association.
While the WSJ has pointed to restructuring as the reason for Cheng’s termination, she had been previously told to let go of her duties in the HKJA and to not stand for election for chair because of supposed potential conflict of interest.
We are in solidarity as well with other officers of the association who have reported pressure from employers to stand down, and with other members of the Hong Kong media who have been told by employers to refrain from joining media associations and clubs in the city.
While there can be no press freedom without a press and corporations’ instinct for self-preservation is understandable, media workers are part of the press and have as much — if not a bigger — stake in press freedom as well in the freedom of association to join groups advocating press freedom, especially in places where that freedom and democracy itself is severely challenged.
As Cheng correctly put it: “The right for reporters to work without fear must be protected not just by the law, but more crucially, by ourselves: reporters, editors and publishers.”
As an organization with members who have been pressured to lie low, disaffiliate, and to spare their newsrooms from potential trouble, NUJP cannot but have sympathy and solidarity for colleagues in the HKJA and in other press organizations in Hong Kong.
We take heart as well from Cheng’s determination to keep reporting, saying “the advocacy for press freedom is more long lasting than any single job.”
Reference:
National Directorate | +639602784263