Shifting journalistic paradigm in post-2019 Hong Kong: the state–society relationship and the press

Abstract

In the aftermath of the anti-ELAB protests, the relationship between state power and civil society, in which the journalistic paradigm in Hong Kong is embedded, has been fundamentally altered. In brief, the term journalistic paradigm refers to the media political economy that conditions the news values, ideologies, and journalistic practices of the news profession. Since the post-handover years, Hong Kong has been a liberal enclave under Chinese sovereignty, protected by the political designation of “One Country Two Systems” (OCTS). As part of the liberal enclave, the journalistic paradigm in Hong Kong has been distinctly different from the rest of mainland China in terms of press freedom and professional ethos. However, after 2019, the political exception allowing the liberal enclave became highly uncertain because of China’s attempt to remap Hong Kong’s political order, state–society relationship, and state–press relationship in the name of national security. This article revisits Hong Kong’s journalistic paradigm in the post-handover decades and summarizes significant changes in the post-2019 years, which continue to challenge news values and journalistic ethos in the city.