Citizen News

For the Hollywood newspaper, see Community newspapers in Hollywood, California § Citizen-News.

Citizen News
Type of site
News
Available inTraditional Chinese
Dissolved4 January 2022; 2 years ago (2022-01-04)
Headquarters
Hong Kong
OwnerCivic Journalists Limited
URLwww.hkcnews.com
CommercialNo
RegistrationNone
Launched1 January 2017; 7 years ago (2017-01-01)
Current statusDefunct

Citizen News or CitizenNews (Chinese: 眾新聞) was an online news website based in Hong Kong. The platform was launched on 1 January 2017 and shut down on 4 January 2022 amid a government crackdown on news media.

Establishment and growth

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Citizen News was established in 2017 following a successful crowdfunding campaign.[1]

Citizen News was founded by 10 veteran journalists, including Ming Pao former editor-in-chief Kevin Lau and former HKJA chairperson Daisy Li. They expressed concern on the worsening freedom of press in Hong Kong at that time, and hoped to start a new platform to secure jornalistic professionalism.[2] Citizen News relied on public donations to sustain operation and growth.[2][3]

Citizen News focused on in-depth, less-biased, local news reporting,[3] especially in legal and political issues, and was focused on filling gaps not covered by mainstream media.[4] The outlet expanded in 2021, recruiting journalists from Chinese News Group of Cable Television on 18 January 2021 after their resignation in protest to staff cuts,[5] and from RTHK, after many of its staff left the public broadcaster over what was seen as increasingly pro-government and censored political coverage.[6]

Closure

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A press conference was held by Citizen News on 3 January 2022, announcing the outlet was closing the next day.

The outlet shut down on 4 January 2022, citing unclear “legal boundaries,” after the passing of the controversial national security law.[7] The decision was made to cease operations to ensure the safety of its staffers.[8][9] The surprise announcement on 2 January came just days after another opposition-leaning online news platform Stand News was raided and shut down, and several months after Apple Daily was similarly forced to close.[10]

At the time of its closure, Citizen News employed a team of around 40 who worked from a newsroom in Cheung Sha Wan.[11]

The Hong Kong Journalists Association stated that it was saddened by the closure. On the other hand, Beijing mouthpiece Wen Wei Po referred to the closures of Citizen News, Stand News, and Apple Daily as "self-inflicted".[1] Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam stated that Citizen News had decided to close on its own, and therefore the incident was not an issue of diminishing freedom of the press.[12]

Awards

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  • Human Rights Press Awards 2018[13]
    • Multimedia category – "Legal Records of Civil Disobedience" by Ng Yuen Ying (winner)
    • Text & Print – Commentary category – "Joint checkpoints: How they are done under British and French law" by Alvin Lum (merit award)
    • Tertiary – Text category – ""28th Anniversary series for the June 4 Tiananmen Square massacre" by Chong Hiu Tung (merit award)
  • Human Rights Press Awards 2019[14]
    • Commentary Writing category – "Three Secretaries for Justice Sought External Advice on Ten Cases Unrelated to Staff" by Ng Yuen Ying (winner)
    • Breaking News Writing category – "Edward Leung and 6 Others Charged for Inciting Riots in Mong Kok's Conflicts" by Tai Ching Hei (merit award)
    • Investigative Feature Writing category – "Save our Kids": Examining Child Abuse Issues by Yip Kit Ming (merit award)
  • Human Rights Press Awards 2020[15]
    • Explanatory Feature Writing category – "3 Barristers Cite European Cases: STS (Special Tactical Squad) Uniforms Not Showing Police Numbers Unconstitutional" by Ng Yuen Ying (merit award)
    • Multimedia category – Interactive Page on 721 Yuen Long Terrorist Attack by Cheung Hoi Kit, Egon Sung and Cherry Wong (merit award)

References

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  1. ^ a b "'No other choice': Hong Kong Citizen News says decision to close was prompted by Stand News arrests, staff safety". Hong Kong Free Press. 3 January 2022.
  2. ^ a b "《眾新聞》周二停運 稱風高浪急要保船上人平安" ["Citizen News" shut down on Tuesday, saying that high winds and waves urgently need to ensure the safety of people on board]. 明報新聞網 - 即時新聞 instant news (in Traditional Chinese). 2022-01-02. Archived from the original on 2022-01-02. Retrieved 2022-01-02.
  3. ^ a b 王陽翎 (2017-01-03). "《眾新聞》有希望嗎？香港傳媒專業面對怎樣的未來？" [Is there any hope for "Citizen News" ? What kind of future does the media profession in Hong Kong face ?]. The News Lens 關鍵評論網 (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 2020-09-25. Retrieved 2022-01-02.
  4. ^ "《眾新聞》宣布後日停運：身在風眼，須確保船上人平安 | 獨媒報導" ["Citizen News" announced the suspension of operations in the next day: in the eye of the wind, we must ensure the safety of people on board]. 獨立媒體. 2022-01-02. Archived from the original on 2022-01-02. Retrieved 2022-01-02.
  5. ^ "前有線中國組原班人馬加入 眾新聞成立中國組 盼公眾支持訂戶倍增" [Former Cable China Group team joined Citizen News, hoping that public support for subscribers will double]. Citizen News. 2021-01-17. Archived from the original on 2021-06-07. Retrieved 2020-01-03.
  6. ^ "眾新聞製作《問究未？！》今晚首播" [Public News produced "Ask You ? !" Premiere tonight]. Citizen News. 2021-10-12. Archived from the original on 2021-12-19. Retrieved 2022-01-02.
  7. ^ "Explainer: Small Chinese-language media outlets press on as Hong Kong's big names disappear". Hong Kong Free Press HKFP. 2022-05-09. Retrieved 2022-05-11.
  8. ^ "Thank you and so long". Citizen News. 2022-01-02. Archived from the original on 6 January 2022.
  9. ^ "Hong Kong online portal Citizen News to shut down on Tuesday". South China Morning Post. 2022-01-02. Archived from the original on 2022-01-02. Retrieved 2022-01-02.
  10. ^ "Independent Hong Kong news outlet Citizen News to shut down on Tue, days after Stand News raid". Hong Kong Free Press. 2022-01-02. Archived from the original on 2022-01-03. Retrieved 2022-01-02.
  11. ^ "Work as usual, then tears as Hong Kong's Citizen News bids farewell". Hong Kong Free Press. 6 January 2022.
  12. ^ "Citizen News and Stand News shut on their own: Carrie Lam". The Standard. 4 January 2022.
  13. ^ "22nd Human Rights Press Awards (2018)". Human Rights Press Awards. Archived from the original on 7 January 2022. Retrieved 7 January 2022.
  14. ^ "23rd Human Rights Press Awards (2019)". Human Rights Press Awards. Archived from the original on 4 November 2021. Retrieved 7 January 2022.
  15. ^ "24th Human Rights Press Awards (2020)". Human Rights Press Awards. Archived from the original on 19 October 2021. Retrieved 7 January 2022.
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