#Professionalism #Solidarity
5 Heads of i-Cable News and Entire China News Team Resign En Masse Against Laying Off of Journalists
On Dec 1, 2020, i-Cable News laid off 40 employees with immediate effect, angering staff at the TV news station.
According to the source, the head of i-Cable China News Szeto Yuen was the first to protest by resigning, followed by the rest of the journalists on the team. In total, one journalist was fired, and the other ten on the team, including Szeto, quit in protest. Some members from other teams also resigned to protest against the company's decision.
A senior journalist told Stand News that they felt it was better to take action together and alert the public that i-Cable News had deteriorated, instead being slowly and quietly weakened. He added that it was not worth staying anymore, since the management has intervened in the reporting again and again.
After recent salary cuts, a few junior journalists were only earning around 13,000 HKD a month. Operations at i-Cable News has nearly ground to a halt on Dec 1, 2020.
An upper-mid-level manager said that the top management had not consulted any department heads about this round of firing. The video editors and graphic designers who were fired were widely praised for their abilities by their colleagues. Many of the fired staff played important roles in middle and senior management.
i-Cable China News had investigated corrupt practices in China many times, and followed up the situation of activists; the team was long regarded to be in high reputation.
They were among the few public broadcasters in Hong Kong with a dedicated team for China news; its 11 members, including the team leader, are responsible for the daily China news reporting and the night-time “China Report”. They also have journalists regularly stationed in Beijing and Guangzhou.
Their most visible reporting in recent years were the 2012 interview of pro-democracy activist Li Wangyang, who served the longest sentence among those from the 1989 Tiananmen protests.
After broadcasting the interview, Li died in Daxiang Hospital, where he was found dead and leaning against the window, with a rope wrapped around his neck, though his legs were touching the ground. The Chinese authorities initially reported that he committed suicide, but they later changed the conclusion to “accidental death”. This incident caused strong repercussions in Hong Kong, with over ten thousand Hongkongers marching in protest, believing that Li "had been suicided".
In 2017, journalist Lam Kin-Shing covered the memorial at sea for Liu Xiaobo by a group of dissenters, the event was broadcast on Facebook live. Afterwards, Liu’s friends were arrested by China police, and the driver hired by i-Cable China News was detained for three days. Lam was transferred back to Hong Kong and barred from reporting in China again; he resigned soon after.
At the early stage of the Wuhan Pneumonia outbreak last year, China News team sent journalists to Wuhan for investigation. They were among the very few Hong Kong media who sent journalists to Wuhan for on-site reporting.
Moreover, the iCable China News team's reporting had won many awards, including Human Right Press Award and awards in the School of Journalism and Communication in CUHK. Their award-winning programs included “Damage of Nuclear weapons tests”, “The land acquisitions incident of Wukan village”, “ Li Wangyang”, “Even China police are protesting”, “Decoding the future of 30 years later”, “Tiananmen massacre 30th year anniversary”, “Poison milk powder: 10 years later”.
Source: Stand News #Dec1
=====
Related News:
All Department Heads from iCable News Quit After the Company Sacks 40 Staff in News Team
https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/27039
#WuhanPneumonia #LiWangYang #ChinaNewsTeam #iCable #MassResignation #SzetoYuen #Respect #Integrity #Journalism
5 Heads of i-Cable News and Entire China News Team Resign En Masse Against Laying Off of Journalists
On Dec 1, 2020, i-Cable News laid off 40 employees with immediate effect, angering staff at the TV news station.
According to the source, the head of i-Cable China News Szeto Yuen was the first to protest by resigning, followed by the rest of the journalists on the team. In total, one journalist was fired, and the other ten on the team, including Szeto, quit in protest. Some members from other teams also resigned to protest against the company's decision.
A senior journalist told Stand News that they felt it was better to take action together and alert the public that i-Cable News had deteriorated, instead being slowly and quietly weakened. He added that it was not worth staying anymore, since the management has intervened in the reporting again and again.
After recent salary cuts, a few junior journalists were only earning around 13,000 HKD a month. Operations at i-Cable News has nearly ground to a halt on Dec 1, 2020.
An upper-mid-level manager said that the top management had not consulted any department heads about this round of firing. The video editors and graphic designers who were fired were widely praised for their abilities by their colleagues. Many of the fired staff played important roles in middle and senior management.
i-Cable China News had investigated corrupt practices in China many times, and followed up the situation of activists; the team was long regarded to be in high reputation.
They were among the few public broadcasters in Hong Kong with a dedicated team for China news; its 11 members, including the team leader, are responsible for the daily China news reporting and the night-time “China Report”. They also have journalists regularly stationed in Beijing and Guangzhou.
Their most visible reporting in recent years were the 2012 interview of pro-democracy activist Li Wangyang, who served the longest sentence among those from the 1989 Tiananmen protests.
After broadcasting the interview, Li died in Daxiang Hospital, where he was found dead and leaning against the window, with a rope wrapped around his neck, though his legs were touching the ground. The Chinese authorities initially reported that he committed suicide, but they later changed the conclusion to “accidental death”. This incident caused strong repercussions in Hong Kong, with over ten thousand Hongkongers marching in protest, believing that Li "had been suicided".
In 2017, journalist Lam Kin-Shing covered the memorial at sea for Liu Xiaobo by a group of dissenters, the event was broadcast on Facebook live. Afterwards, Liu’s friends were arrested by China police, and the driver hired by i-Cable China News was detained for three days. Lam was transferred back to Hong Kong and barred from reporting in China again; he resigned soon after.
At the early stage of the Wuhan Pneumonia outbreak last year, China News team sent journalists to Wuhan for investigation. They were among the very few Hong Kong media who sent journalists to Wuhan for on-site reporting.
Moreover, the iCable China News team's reporting had won many awards, including Human Right Press Award and awards in the School of Journalism and Communication in CUHK. Their award-winning programs included “Damage of Nuclear weapons tests”, “The land acquisitions incident of Wukan village”, “ Li Wangyang”, “Even China police are protesting”, “Decoding the future of 30 years later”, “Tiananmen massacre 30th year anniversary”, “Poison milk powder: 10 years later”.
Source: Stand News #Dec1
=====
Related News:
All Department Heads from iCable News Quit After the Company Sacks 40 Staff in News Team
https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/27039
#WuhanPneumonia #LiWangYang #ChinaNewsTeam #iCable #MassResignation #SzetoYuen #Respect #Integrity #Journalism