Apple Daily published an article expressing concern about freedom of the press in Hong Kong. According to the article, companies from the mainland, such as TVB and the South China Morning Post have been buying out Hong Kong media, suggesting that Beijing has slowly been gaining control over Hong Kong media. At the same time, cases have been reported in which reporters (independent of the mainland) have been attacked; key proprietors of a bookstore in Hong Kong have been arrested; and unusual organizational changes within the media have taken place. The article quoted an interview of the president of the Hong Kong Reporter’s Association who pointed out that some publishers have withdrawn certain outspoken columns or shifted the editorial direction through organizational restructuring.
Based on the statistics that Reporters without Borders has published, the freedom of the press index for Hong Kong media dropped from 18th in 2002 to 73rd in 2017. Out of 26 mainstream media in Hong Kong, companies from the mainland own at least eight to 31 percent of them.
Source: Apple Daily, June 6, 2017
http://hk.apple.nextmedia.com/news/art/20170606/20045536