Articles

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…

Should the Hong Kong government register journalists and issue them an official press card? This question of journalist accreditation was first broached by police officials who complained that some Hong Kong protesters were posing as reporters, with yellow vests and helmets falsely labelled, “PRESS.” They complained the riot police had no way to tell real working…

For me, the split screen images of the past few weeks were two dramatic news events happening more than 8,000 miles apart. In Washington, D.C., House Democrats began an impeachment inquiry into whether President Donald Trump pressured a foreign leader to help with his presidential campaign. And in Hong Kong, more than four months of…

Message from Keith First of all, welcome to the new class of Master of Journalism students, and to the latest entry class of Bachelor of Journalism (BJ) students, who will finish in 2023. These cohorts have the distinction of being our 20th class of students at the JMSC, and we are excited to see such…

Hong Kong on June 4 just saw one of the largest crowds ever gather to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the massacre of pro-democracy students and protestors in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square.  Attendance had started to drop off in recent years for the annual candlelight vigil. The massive turnout this time was no doubt helped by mounting public…

Is WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange a hero or a heel? Is Assange, currently in a British jail, a journalist who should be supported as a symbol of press freedom? Or is he a computer hacker who should be extradited to the United States and forced to stand trial for crimes, including theft of private information?…