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
Citizen News was established in 2017
following a successful crowdfunding campaign.
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 journalistic professionalism. Citizen News relied on public donations to
sustain operation and growth.
Citizen News focused on in-depth,
less-biased, local news reporting, especially in legal and political issues,
and was focused on filling gaps not covered by mainstream media. 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, and from RTHK, after many of
its staff left the public broadcaster over what was seen as increasingly
pro-government and censored political coverage
Closure
The media outlet decided to shut down on 4 January 2022 to ensure
the safety of its staffers.
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.
At the time of its closure, Citizen News
employed a team of around 40 who worked from a newsroom in Cheung Sha Wan.
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". 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.
Awards
- Human
Rights Press Awards 2018
- Multimedia
category – "Legal Records of Civil Disobediance" 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
Tiananment Square massacre" by Chong Hiu Tung (merit award)
- Human
Rights Press Awards 2019
- Commentary
Writing category – "Three Secretaries for Justice Sought External
Adivce 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
- 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)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizen_News#cite_note-6
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