Hong Kong Free Press celebrated its first anniversary in June. We officially launched our website a year ago, amid a blaze of publicity, and after a record-breaking round of fundraising. Thank you to all of our readers, donors, staff and volunteers who have made HKFP possible over the past year.
Our first year – HKFP by the numbers:
- HKFP attracted over 3.5 million unique visitors over the past year.
- We now serve over 45,000 Facebook fans and 17,500 Twitter followers.
- We have published over 4,400 news and comment pieces.
- Last year, over 1,000 supporters donated over HK$1m to safeguard our independence.
Publishing a mix of original reporting, pick-ups, features, interviews, investigations and viral pieces, our reporters have been fulfilling our mission to fill the gap between Chinese and English coverage of local and national affairs. We have also, as promised, been further investing our limited resources into original reporting this year…
We carried features on topics such as the plight of refugees, transgender rights, the Sea Shepherd activist ship, women’s football, contraception, animal cruelty, poverty, the Tiananmen crackdown, a paralympian, local theatre, recycling, the Philippine elections, Chinese start-ups, the crackdown on sex workers, human rights in China, a strike by market stallholders, elderly designers, and the plight of domestic workers.
This year alone, we followed the bookseller disappearances closely with special features, history pieces, translations and explainers. We reported on the HKU Council debacle in detail, sparked a debate about gentrification in Sham Shui Po and gave special coverage to press freedom and censorship issues locally and nationally. We reported closely on China’s lawyer crackdown, the lead water scandal, LGBTQ and gender issues, the Mapopo farm clearance and Zhang Dejiang’s Hong Kong visit.
The HKFP team live-blogged the Policy Address and Hong Kong budget, the 2015 district elections, the Tianjin blasts, the July 1st democracy march, the Beijing WWII parade, Taiwan’s elections, the annual Tiananmen massacre vigil, and the one-year anniversary of the Occupy protests.
We also broke news on subjects such as government misspending, identity, crime, censorship, security issues at the airport, Chinese social media, leaked tapes involving the LegCo president, and offered the best rolling coverage in English of the Taiwan elections.
HKFP also launched a new original video section with mini-documentaries on a farm threatened by developers, a village threatened by the new Macau bridge, a pay-as-you-wish restaurant and a women’s-only market in India.
We have hosted exclusive interviews with activists Joshua Wong, Nathan Law, Agnes Chow, Law Yuk-kai, Anastasia Lin and David Webb, academic Timothy O’Leary, politicians Tanya Chan, Anson Chan and Paul Zimmerman, businessman Allan Zeman, singer Denise Ho, whistleblower Billy Fung, filmmaker Christopher Doyle, as well as a journalist ejected from China, activists Amos Yee and Chen Guangcheng, authors Leta Hong Fincher, David Bandurski, Jason Y. Ng and Louisa Lim, plus many others (including a famous cat).
In May, we were recognised at the Human Rights Press Awards for our piece about sexual harassment on university campuses.
See also: Trending this week on HKFP.
We have published explainers on the Small House Policy, One Belt, One Road, parallel traders, the controversial copyright bill, the district elections, the missing booksellers, Taiwan’s elections, the lead water crisis, TVMost, the HKU Council debacle, and published comprehensive guides to mental health and sexual health.
Over the past year, we have hosted hundreds of comment and analysis pieces from Tim Hamlett, Howard Winn, Kent Ewing, Stephen Vines, A. Jacobus, Stuart Wolfendale, Richard Scotford, Joyce Man, Frank Siu, Nury Vittachi, Jason Y. Ng, Tom Holland, Surya Deva and dozens of others.
HKFP’s Kris Cheng was on the frontlines, providing multimedia coverage, throughout February’s unrest in Mong Kok. He also gave timely and detailed coverage and analysis of the Panama Papers leaks and their relevance to Hong Kong as well as breaking news reporting on the return of bookseller Lam Wing-kee to the city.
Media coverage: ABC News Radio, Apple Daily, Al-Jazeera English, Asia Media International, ATV World, BBC World, Coconuts (1), Coconuts (2), Coconuts (3), DBC, EJInsight (1), EJInsight (2), FCC Magazine, Initium (1), Initium (2), InMedia, Inspire With Me, iMoney Magazine (Ming Pao), Journalisti, JMSC, Krautreporter (German), Marketing Interactive, Ming Pao Sunday, Ming Pao (1), Ming Pao (2), Mumbrella Asia, Mumbrella Asia, Mumbrella Asia, Next Magazine, Next Magazine video, Nikkei Asia Review, Open Democracy,Politiken, RTHK Radio 3, RTHK TV (1), RTHK TV (2), Sinocism, Stand News, Stand News, That’s Online, The Australian, The Guardian, The Week, Time Out, TVB Pearl, & Young SCMP.
Hong Kong Free Press is the city’s only non-profit, independent English-language newspaper. We are not beholden to any corporate entity, business tycoon or mainland Chinese conglomerate. We are answerable only to ourselves and our readers – allowing us the freedom to report without obstruction, when and where it is needed most.
On our first anniversary, can you support us with a HK$200 monthly commitment?
Direct funding from a diluted group of supporters is – without doubt – the best strategy when it comes to safeguarding our independence. Now you become a HKFP Patron and support our team on a monthly basis.
Regular contributions – of any amount – allow us to plan ahead and invest in our reporting. Our office space is donated and our costs are kept down through the use of free digital tools. Every cent goes towards supporting our staff.
Please click here for other ways to support us. One-off contributions, Bitcoin or micro-donations are also most welcome. The best way to support us (with no fees at either side) is by cheque.
