Alibaba dismisses claims over press freedom arising from SCMP purchase as Hong Kong lawmaker pickets Post office
‘Long Hair’ Leung Kwok-hung barricades Post offices in wildcat rally
The South China Morning Post and its incoming new owner, Alibaba Group, dismissed concerns about the newspaper’s editorial independence, as a small group of demonstrators protested at the impending takeover yesterday.
About 10 protesters, from the League of Social Democrats and concern group Socialist Action, held up banners and shouted slogans outside the Post’s Causeway Bay office, claiming press freedom in Hong Kong was under threat with China’s e-commerce giant buying into the local media.
An Alibaba spokesman responded: “We will let our readers decide.”
We will let our readers decide.
He referred to a letter written by Alibaba executive vice-chairman Joseph Tsai to Post readers earlier. “In reporting the news, the SCMP will be objective, accurate and fair,” Tsai promised in the letter, adding that “day-to-day editorial decisions will be driven by editors in the newsroom, not in the corporate boardroom”.
The Post also issued a statement yesterday citing Alibaba’s aim to marry its digital expertise with the paper’srich editorial heritage to continue delivering quality news that readers could trust.
“With this commitment to uphold editorial independence, and the injection of technology and resources, the South China Morning Post will continue our unwavering mission to uphold our 112-year tradition of editorial excellence,” it said.
But Socialist Action chairwoman Sally Tang Mei-ching said Alibaba would “inevitably force the SCMP to engage in self-censorship in order to stay online” on the mainland.