#iCable #CableNews #HongKongMedia
Sources: 3 Heads of Engineering Team at Cable News Fired by News Director

According to sources cited by Apple Daily, three engineering team heads got a termination letter from their news director on August 21, 2020 effective immediately.

They have worked at Cable News for around 20 years. They were the first batch of employees when Cable News was just established. They were responsible for maintaining network connections, live broadcast signals, assisting news interviewing, editorials and other back-end works. They have a good relationship with journalists. It's reported that some journalists couldn’t stop crying when they knew the company let go of them.

Cable News had underwent a major staffing change during early August, with Anderson Chan Hing-cheong and Oscar Lee taking the position of news director.

Source: Apple Daily #Aug21
#LayOff

#iCable #LayOff #Petition
200+ employees petition for i-Cable management to reveal reasons behind dismissal of engineering team heads

More than 200 employees from the Public Information of i-Cable petitioned, requesting for the management to reveal their true intentions behind the firing of 3 heads of the engineering team.

i-Cable responded to not affect the operation of the public information department

i-Cable filled the vacant roles in what seemed like an unbroken succession. The 3 heads of the engineering team were fired on 21 August on immediate notice.

Read here: https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/24406

More than 200 people in Public information Department, including every editors and journalists from the Hong Kong News team and all journalists from the China news team signed the petitioned directed to the i-Cable chairmen, David Chiu Tat -Cheong, and the Chief financial officer (CFO), Kwok Chi-Kin.

The employees felt “shocked, puzzled and angry” and expressed that this move would result in an “irrevocable loss of i-Cable”

They mentioned in the open letter that they did not approve of the management's decision to that dismiss the 3 heads without any prior notice. They also doubted the claims that from the management that this doing had no adverse effects on the daily operation of the company. They also requested for the management to explain the reasons behind the personnel changes.

The 3 new senior management officers mentioned in the letter are ex-senior management of another pro-Establishment TV station ATV, Anderson Chan Hing-cheong, Edna Tse, and Oscar Lee. Fung Tak-hung was reappointed to be an advisor.

i-Cable responded that the dismissal of the 3 people from engineering teams was a result of a “regular review of organisation structure and Human Resources”. They also mentioned that a reasonable and sufficient compensation package have been arranged according to the Employees’ Compensation Ordinance of Labour Department. They further reiterated their claims the dismissal "will not affect the daily operation of public information department”.

Source: Stand News #Aug22
https://bit.ly/31ghHSSn

#ATV #Management

#WhiteTerror #FrozenAsset
#Reuters: HK’s Pro-democracy Newspaper #AppleDaily to shut within days according to #JimmyLai adviser

//Hong Kong pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily will be forced to shut “in a matter of days” after authorities froze the company’s assets under a national security law, Mark Simon, an adviser to jailed owner Jimmy Lai told Reuters on June 21, 2021.

The closure of Apple Daily would undermine the former British colony's reputation as an open and free society and send a warning to other companies that could be accused of colluding with a foreign country, media advocacy groups said.

Next Digital (0282.HK), publisher of the top-selling 26-year-old newspaper, would hold a board meeting on Monday [June 21, 2021] to discuss how to move forward after its lines of credit were frozen, the adviser, Mark Simon, said.

"Vendors tried to put money into our accounts and were rejected," he said by phone from the United States.

"We thought we'd be able to make it to the end of the month. It's just getting harder and harder. It's essentially a matter of days."

Apple Daily said on Sunday the freezing of its assets had left the liberal newspaper with cash for “a few weeks” for normal operations.”

In May, Reuters reported exclusively that Hong Kong's security chief had sent letters to tycoon Lai and branches of HSBC and Citibank threatening up to seven years' jail for any dealings with the billionaire's accounts in the city...

Authorities are also prosecuting three companies related to Apple Daily for alleged collusion with a foreign country and have frozen HK$18 million ($2.3 million) of their assets...

Simon told Reuters it had now become impossible to conduct banking operations in the global financial hub.

"We can't bank. Some vendors tried to do that as a favour ... and it was rejected."

The newspaper has come under increasing pressure since owner and Beijing critic Lai, who is now in jail, was arrested under the national security law last August and has since had some of his assets frozen...

Simon said some reporters had received threatening phone calls from unknown sources.

"Our staff are now just worried about personal safety," he said...//

Read full article:
https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/exclusive-adviser-jailed-hk-tycoon-jimmy-lai-says-apple-daily-shut-within-days-2021-06-21/

Source: Reuters #Jun21

#PoliceState #NationalSecurityLaw #PressFreedom #HongKongMedia #Journalism #PoliticalSuppression #MarkSimon #FreeJimmy

====
Related stories:

[June 17, 2021] HK Police Raids Apple Daily Again and Arrests 3 Editors and 2 Executives

https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/30130

"We Will Press On": Apple Daily Prints 500,000 Copies Despite Police Raid

https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/30142

Hongkongers Rush to Support Apple Daily After Midnight

https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/30140

[June 18, 2021] HK Police Charges Apple Daily Editor-in-chief and #NextDigital CEO with #NationalSecurityLaw

https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/30149

[21 June, 2021]
Arrests, National Security Charges and Frozen Assets: Apple Daily Might Shut Down in 5 Days

https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/30172

#WhiteTerror #PoliticalProsecution
Arrests, National Security Charges and Frozen Assets: Pro-Democracy #AppleDaily Might Shut Down in 5 Days

At around 15:45 on June 21, 2021 in Hong Kong, the executive board of Apple Daily came to a decision: The city's only Chinese-language pro-democracy newspaper will be shut down. The exact closing date will be announced on Friday, 25 June, 2021, which would possibly be the last operating day of the 26-year-old top selling newspaper. In other words, Saturday, 26 June could be the last time for the newspaper to appear.

The Hong Kong police raided the newspaper office with over 500 officers on June 17, 2021 and arrested 3 editors and 2 executives for "colluding with foreign powers" under #NationalSecurityLaw. Among them, editor-in-chief #RyanLaw and #NextDigital CEO #CheungKimHung were charged with breaching the national security law.

Apple Daily founder #JimmyLai has been arrested and detained since January 2021.

The Hong Kong government has been freezing the assets of Apple Daily and its connecting companies, to block the newspaper's from operating and paying salary. #MarkSimon, an adviser to Jimmy Lai, told Reuters that "vendors tried to put money into our accounts and were rejected".

According to sources, following the decision of the board on June 21, the management of Apple Daily notified all its staff of the possibility of resignation with immediate effect. The newspaper hopes to issue adequate compensation salary to its employees, but it depends whether the government will allow the company to do so. The board has issued a letter to the Security Bureau of the Hong Kong SAR Government regarding the matter, demanding a reply on Friday, June 25.

The management said they understand the potential risks under the current circumstances and will let their staff to make their own decision. The management thanks their staff for their contribution and professionalism in the newspaper's continuous fight for press freedom.

Source: Apple Daily; Now News; Stand News #Jun21

https://bit.ly/3xAHW3J

https://bit.ly/3qdAf0U

#PoliceState #NationalSecurityLaw #PressFreedom #HongKongMedia #Journalism #PoliticalSuppression #FrozenAsset #FreeJimmy #SaveAppleDaily #SupportAppleDaily

====
Timeline:

[June 17, 2021] HK Police Raids Apple Daily Again and Arrests 3 Editors and 2 Executives

https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/30130

"We Will Press On": Apple Daily Prints 500,000 Copies Despite Police Raid

https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/30142

Hongkongers Rush to Support Apple Daily After Midnight

https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/30140

[June 18, 2021] HK Police Charges Apple Daily Editor-in-chief and #NextDigital CEO with #NationalSecurityLaw

https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/30149

[June 21, 2021]
HK’s Pro-democracy Newspaper #AppleDaily to shut within days according to #JimmyLai adviser

https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/30169

#OpinionArticle #SaveAppleDaily
Former Apple Daily Staff Bids Farewell to the Newspaper

[Editor's note: The following was written by veteran media worker Terry Yeung, who used to work at Apple Daily and is now publishing regularly on different social media platforms. Yeung recounted his visit to the Apple Daily office after learning the news of the newspaper's forced closure on June 21, 2021]

"After receiving the news, I broke into tears during a meeting. I bought some cakes and hurried back to my 'old home'.

I left Next Digital for some time, but this place is always my alma mater.

Entering through the gate, I bumped into Ms S, who hired me seven years ago. She took me in and let a dumb kid have his first taste in the media industry.

I just took this photo with a banner that writes “Great Work, colleagues!”. It was hanged on the second floor, visible from the lobby.

Ms C of Finance News rushed over for a hug. Her eyes were all red.

Ms F and Mr. H from the same team patted me on the shoulder. The silence said all.

I visited the 'Apple Seed' team and greeted Ms I, who was burying herself in work in order to make sure every colleague is well.

Animal News reporter Ms A hugged me as soon as she saw me. We have known each other for seven years.

I ran into Manager B, a very good friend of mine. We used to go buy siu mei at the Canteen on the fifth floor together.

The cashier screamed when she spotted me. Another familar face from the canteen cried out: “Why are you coming back? Are you paying me a visiting?”

Some former colleagues were taking group photos in the lobby, while some others were still busy in meetings as usual.

If there is still Apply Daily tomorrow, there are articles to be written and printed.

This is the daily routine in Next Digital--things got to be done. It is a sad moment, but there is no time to be immersed in sadness.

Today, many people cried while hugging me. After that, they continued to write articles and work in silence.

As long as Apple Daily is still here, there are news to be published.

The office of Mr. Cheung Kim-hung is vacant.
The seat of Mr. Lai Chee-ying is empty.

The staff of the newspaper vow to work until the end, until they can report news no more.

It is my honour to have been a part of Apple Daily."

Source: Terry’s Lazy Class #Jun21

https://www.facebook.com/108102623935984/posts/529270185152557/

#PoliceState #NationalSecurityLaw #PressFreedom #HongKongMedia #Journalism #FreeJimmy #SaveAppleDaily

====
Related News:

Arrests, National Security Charges and Frozen Assets: Apple Daily Might Shut Down in 5 Days

https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/30172

Voices are Disappearing in Face of "Stability and Prosperity"

https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/30175

#Journalism #Professionalism
Stand News Roll Out New Strategies to Protect Journalists and Readers

On June 27, 2021, online news outlet #StandNews issued a statement stating that they will take down articles published before and during May 2021 and will stop receiving sponsorship.

The decision was announced following the shutdown of the city's pro-democracy newspaper #AppleDaily.

Six directors of the parent company, including Ka Fai Yee (余家輝) ,TC Chow (周達智), Margaret Ng Ngoi-yee (吳靄儀), Denise Ho Wan-see (何韻詩), Christine Fang Meng-sang (方敏生) and Joseph Lian (練乙錚), are resigning from the board.

The news outlet indicated that they will continue to operate. The remaining two chief editors, Tony Tsoi and Apple Daily’s former associate publisher Chan Pui-man's husband Chung Pui-kuen (鍾沛權) will remain in office.

In the statement, Stand News pointed out that in order to avoid wasting supporters' donations in the event of an incident, they would pause patronage and immediately suspend the monthly member sponsorship program. They will also stop accepting new members and new sponsorship.

Stand News wrote that because of the approaching literary persecution, the company decided to temporarily take down blog articles, re-posted articles and reader contributions published before May 2021; while continue to back up the content of the website.

According to the current financial reserve, it is sufficient to meet the expenses for the next 9 to 12 months.

The news outlet indicated that since May 2021, the employment contracts of employees who have been employed for more than six months were terminated. Their annual salary was settled at an amount higher than the compensation required by law, and their contracts were re-signed at terms no lower than the original ones.

Stand News called on supporters in their statement to redirect their current support to other independent media outlets, freelance journalists, commentators and journalism organizations that uphold freedom of speech and press in Hong Kong.

Source: In-Media HK #June27
https://bit.ly/3vYb2sz

#MediaLandscape #Journalism #HongKongMedia