Journalists Told Independence Is Taboo: HKJA

One in five journalists in the territory have been ordered by their superiors to cut down or withdraw reports about Hong Kong independence, a survey by the Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA) has found.

The association said it surveyed 516 journalists and 22 percent reported encountering such situations at work.

HKJA chairman Chris Yeung said such censorship is unacceptable and the survey's findings serve as a warning about editorial independence in the city being undermined.

"Journalism, the process of reporting the truth, is based on news value. Political considerations should not be taken into consideration in that process. So censorship in itself, if it’s based on political factors, is not acceptable,” Yeung said.

The association also interviewed more than a thousand residents in January about their views on the city’s press freedom.

A press freedom index compiled by the association based on the public's responses came in at 45 out of 100 – the lowest level since 2013 when the survey first began.

The association said respondents cited incidents such as the expulsion of veteran British journalist Victor Mallet and the ban on the pro-independence Hong Kong National Party as evidence of press freedom being damaged.

For the first time, respondents also chose Beijing as the biggest factor when it comes to press freedom in the territory.

More than half of the public polled said they thought the press freedom situation had slid backwards, while the corresponding figure for journalists was 81 percent.

The Hong Kong University Public Opinion Programme, which conducted the survey on behalf of the association, said these figures are "alarming".