The Evolution of Self-Censorship in Hong Kong Online Journalism: Influences from Digitalization and the State

Studies about media self-censorship typically focus on its mechanism in traditional newsroom settings. But how media self-censorship may evolve in online journalism has remained largely unexplored. Using Hong Kong as a case, I examine the digital evolution of media self-censorship in a unique non-de...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inThe international journal of press/politics Vol. 29; no. 1; pp. 143 - 163
Main Author Koo, Alex Zhi-Xiong
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.01.2024
SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
Subjects
Censorship
Gatekeeping
Influence
Journalism
Journalists
Mass media effects
Offenses
Production
Social media
Hong Kong China
China
professionalism
self-censorship
online journalism
newsroom social control
digital transformation
web metrics
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Summary:Studies about media self-censorship typically focus on its mechanism in traditional newsroom settings. But how media self-censorship may evolve in online journalism has remained largely unexplored. Using Hong Kong as a case, I examine the digital evolution of media self-censorship in a unique non-democratic context. Drawing on interviews with online journalists, my findings reveal that digital transformation has provided new valences for media self-censorship. With the financial hardship of legacy media in the digital age, Hong Kong online journalists are more directly exposed to external threats such as advertisement boycotts orchestrated by the state, and hence increasingly reluctant to offend external powerholders out of the fear of political and financial retaliation. Moreover, as online journalists adopt business-driven norms that favor the generation of clicks, political or policy news are further marginalized. These stories are often deemed boring, non-engaging to online audiences, and are not “sensationalizable” due to political risks, especially when compared to soft news types like crimes and lifestyles stories. Adapting to these changes, news managers are increasingly used to avoiding professional editorial debates that results are unpredictable but using “objective” web metrics as persuasive devices to discourage the production of sensitive news. Lastly, the dissemination of sensitive news is curbed in the social media gatekeeping process. These findings suggest that an authoritarian state can effectively influence online news production by controlling the capital that drives digital transformation, thereby limiting the liberating potential of the media in the digital age.
ISSN:1940-1612
1940-1620
DOI:10.1177/19401612221075553