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May 3 marks World Press Freedom Day, and this year, the journalistic freedom landscape looks particularly bleak, especially here in Asia. The last year depressingly has seen as many as 66 journalists killed, according to the International Federation of Journalists. Reporters Without Borders puts the number somewhat lower, at 50, depending on definitions. In all the…

The good news is that there is light at the end of our long, dark pandemic tunnel in the form of two new vaccines now available in Hong Kong. Finally, we can dare to imagine a return to something that resembles life as we knew it before the coronavirus—students back full-time in classrooms, restaurants packed…

The year 2020 has been full of unsettling news. The Covid-19 pandemic has disrupted life’s rhythms and routines. Live events have been cancelled, the economy is reeling, bars and restaurants hit with multiple restrictions are struggling to stay afloat and regular milestones—weddings, anniversaries, birthday celebrations, graduation ceremonies—have been moved online, reduced to a handful of…

The most unusual American election in a lifetime—conducted during a pandemic, with record high early voting and no official conclusion after 48 hours of counting—is now one for the history books. In the messy aftermath, there will now be plenty of media flagellation, and deservedly so, for all their miscalls. We were first told that…

Last month, The Washington Post ran a terrific story about student reporters as the “journalism heroes of the pandemic era”. With many of America’s coronavirus hotspots occurring at colleges or in university towns, the Post reported “student journalists have been kept busy breaking news of campus outbreaks, pushing for transparency from administrators and publishing scathing…

First, a few welcomes are in order. Welcome to the Bachelor of Journalism class of 2024—which will be our largest-ever undergraduate cohort in the 20-year history of our programme. Welcome to our 2021 Master of Journalism class. And welcome back to all of our returning students. As our programme enters its third decade, we decided…

To say this unusual year has brought unprecedented challenges would be an understatement. I’d like to take this opportunity to let you know how we at JMSC are responding to two of the biggest. The first of course is the coronavirus, which first appeared in Hong Kong around the Lunar New Year and, as of…

Greetings, and I hope you are all staying healthy and safe. Much has changed since my last message to you, when I informed you that the university had suspended face-to-face classes for March. Since then, as you are well aware, the coronavirus outbreak, which for a time seemed contained here in Hong Kong, has become…

Greetings. and apologies for the delay in getting you this newsletter. We normally come back from the semester break with a new bulletin of activities and best wishes for the Lunar New Year. But the advent of a new cycle and the dawn of the Year of the Rat has been overshadowed by the coronavirus outbreak,…

Should journalists rely on anonymous sources? There has been much recent talk among media analysts, critics and journalism educators about reporters overusing anonymous sources. This is often cited as one of the many factors leading to a decline in public trust of the news media. Some critics say the persistent use of anonymous sources allows journalists to…