A Eulogy for the Free Press
On the morning of July 1, 2020, newsstands across Hong Kong had a conspicuously uniform appearance. At least eight major papers carried identical front-page advertisements: a cerulean-shaded photo of uniformed officials standing below the Chinese and Hong Kong flags with the city’s harbor in the background. The image was overlaid with lines of white text triumphantly welcoming the arrival of a sweeping national-security law enacted the night before. Just one paper looked different, breaking from the monotonous propaganda. Apple Daily, Hong Kong’s brash tabloid, offered a take that better captured both the feelings of many city residents and the reality of the situation. “Draconian law takes effect,” the paper’s front-page headline read. “One country, two systems dead.”
Inflammatory and sensationalist, racy and unabashedly prodemocracy, pushed the limits of respectable reporting and at times disavowed them entirely. But, for its many flaws, it was also a formidable journalistic force, landing major scoops on corruption and official misconduct, covering human-rights struggles in China, and regularly challenging Hong Kong’s leaders. As other publications fell in line with Beijing’s messaging, toning down their critical coverage after being snatched up by remained defiant, despite , , and .
