Top editor at major Hong Kong newspaper abruptly sacks deputy
Ming Pao management claim financial difficulties behind decision, but staff and lawmakers voice concern over editorial independence
A top editor of a major Hong Kong newspaper was abruptly fired on Wednesday, triggering anger among its staff members and deepening concern about press freedom in the city.
Management at Chinese-language Ming Pao insisted that staff members including executive chief editor Keung Kwok-yuen were dismissed to cut costs, but the paper’s union believes that the move was meant to punish “dissidents of editorial decisions” like Keung.
It also came as local media companies struggled to survive. Earlier this month, Sing Tao News Corporation announced a pay cut for senior news executives.
A Ming Pao Staff Association spokesperson said Keung was fired by his boss, chief editor Chong Tien Siong, early Wednesday with immediate effect, and the staff members “are extremely angry”. Keung could not be reached for comment.
Ming Pao’s former executive chief editor Simon Fung Shing-cheung described the saga as “a serious underestimation of the readers and employees’ intelligence”.
“This rude manpower management approach was not only detached from 21st century Hong Kong, it also ... damaged the paper’s credibility,” Fung said.
Without giving names or details, a Ming Pao Group spokesperson said financial difficulties drove the decision.
“Ming Pao’s editorial policy remains unchanged,” the spokesperson added.
It was understood that in a meeting with more than 100 staff members on Wednesday, Chong described Keung as his “most competent aide”. An insider revealed that Chong said since he and Keung were the best-paid in the newsroom, the company had to fire the latter to meet an eight-per-cent cost-cutting target. He declined to say if Keung’s dismissal was related to his dissident style.
The association’s vice-chair Wong Chun-ho said: “We do not believe that cost was the reason ... We urge the management to come clean, show us the financial records and review the dismissal.”
“We express our utmost regret that a veteran and objective journalist like Keung ... was no longer [welcome] at Ming Pao,” the statement read.
The News Executives’ Association said in a statement issued on Thursday that it was very concerned about recent restructuring or lay-offs by some media organisations in the wake of deterioration in the business environment.
“We believe that experienced, competent and committed journalists who do their jobs in a fair and impartial manner are invaluable assets of both individual media organisations and Hong Kong society,” the association said.
“We call on media organisations to avoid lay-offs and give priority to retaining talented journalists. Otherwise it would adversely affect the free flow of information and undermine the cornerstone of Hong Kong’s success,” it added.
In February last year, Chong was criticised after he replaced a front page story on the Tiananmen massacre at the eleventh hour with a story on Alibaba’s young entrepreneurs fund. Alibaba now owns the Post.
