Editor’s Note: All sources provided are in English or provide English translations.
Traditional
- The Standard – Sing Tao News Cooperation
http://www.thestandard.com.hk/
Print format, published Monday-Friday. Accessed online, updated daily. Very wide variety of news available through this source as it is one of the top two circulated English newspapers in Hong Kong. Includes local, China, and world news as well as sports, and editorial information. Selected for its large circulation numbers and Hong Kong based ownership versus Beijing owned SCMP.
- South China Morning Post – Alibaba Group
http://www.scmp.com/frontpage/international
Print format, broadsheet, published daily with weekday specific additional inserts relating to property, racing, technology, education and style. Accessed online. The other of the top two English newspapers in Hong Kong. SCMP has a long history and has circulated almost continuously since 1903. SCMP has been chosen as its source for its high credibility rating among locals. In a 2016 public survey completed by Chinese University of Hong Kong students, it ranked the highest for paid newspapers in the country. Notably they have been acquired by a China based company and have potential for mainland slant.
- Hong Kong Tattler – Conde Naste
https://hk.asiatatler.com/society
Hong Kong version of the British lifestyle magazine. Updated daily. This source was selected for it’s greater connection to pop culture and lifestyle than others included. Writers are majority Hong Kongers appealing to luxury lifestyles in Hong Kong. Credibility is highly likely as the Tatler is a Conde Naste owned magazine. As Hong Kong has an extremely high GDP/capita and international business hub this source is useful to learn more about current society trends and culture to compliment the larger collection of traditional new, political and economic information included in other sources.
- Time Out Hong Kong
https://www.timeout.com/hong-kong/news
Lifestyle magazine online. Also selected for its pop culture and human interest pieces. Small writing staff with majority HK natives. Updated daily. Credibility is likely a non-issue because the magazine mostly features non-political, non-controversial subjects. Useful for gaining the cultural vibe of Hong Kong with a less “rich” perspective than Tattler.
New Media
- Yue Chim Richard Wong on the Political Economy of HK and China- Dr. Richard Wong
http://wangyujian.hku.hk/?lang=en
Ph.D. holder from the University of Chicago, Richard Wong currently works at Hong Kong University and runs a blog detailing political economy relations between Hong Kong and the PRC. Updated at the beginning of every month, all his newspaper published posts are compiled on the site and sometimes site-specific ones are included as well. This blog was selected for the author’s strong educational background in political economics and impressive CV.
- Fintech – Christian König
Online website and financial news source with 3 websites focusing on different areas of the world. Updated a few times a week. Owner is a global financial consultant with a history working at many Swiss locations before launching a series of website related to financial news. A brief look at writers involved revels a mixture of Hong Kong authors and international ones. News does not appear to have a specific slant with target audience being those searching for technical financial news.
- Big Lychee
The most candid of all sources provided. Updated a few times a week. Author provides no personal information or background that is easily accessible but they have been blogging since 2002. Blogging about political and news issues from Hong Kong with extreme bias against free speech and Beijing governmental control. It’s a fascinating read if you’re truly looking for raw opinions about the nation and not for academic sources. See the links page for additional similar content if interested in this type of blogging.
Social Media
- Hong Kong Free Press Twitter
https://twitter.com/HongKongFP
Daily, independent, non-profit news website twitter account. Original news website created as an alternative to allegedly self-censoring SCMP. Chosen for it’s extremely independent journalists and desire for truth. Related sites are currently blocked in China.
- Demosisto Twitter – Demosisto
Controversial political party in Hong Kong twitter account. Demosisto (further information in news posts) developed the Umbrella Movement in 2014, a crucial political moment for Hong Kong. Selected for having very independence aimed ideals and interesting young leaders. Demosisto related content is blocked in the mainland. Targeted audience are members of Hong Kong interested in their political ideals as well as the international audience who wants a view of the more radical political views of Hong Kong.
Data Sources
- Freedom House – U.S. Government Funded/Non-Governmental
https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2015/hong-kong
Non-Hong Kong based. NGO. Freedom House is updated yearly with information about the state of freedom and democracy in every country. Very useful for finding statistics as well as curated non-biased data about the state of the SAR.
- CIA World Factbook
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/geos/hk.html
U.S. governmental agency, extremely through in background information and credibility. Useful for filling in data gaps and more in-depth data Freedom House does not provide. No target audience but users are more likely to be scholars or professionals using data for education or research purposes.
Visual/Audio
- RTHK – Radio Talk Hong Kong – Government of Hong Kong
http://news.rthk.hk/rthk/en/news-programmes/this-episode.htm?cmsid=110
Public, government funded news provider. Both video as well as a variety of audio programs can be found here, mostly pertaining to weekly news and public interest. Some shows are updated daily while others are on a weekly basis such as the weekly roundup, done every Sunday, which I plan on listening to. Chosen for its government direct influence as well as wide breadth of content.
- Hong Kong Free Press YouTube – HKFP
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC36umLEHbPUS-lpucrXPcGQ
Note: While their Twitter is already a source used on this information network, it is extremely difficult to find audio/video news content not in Cantonese.
Different from their Twitter or written articles, we can visually see interviews and first-person recounts of life and news in Hong Kong, an experience entirely different from print. Non-profit, independent. Targets those who are looking for non-mainstream but reputable news.