The Correspondent

Journalist and broadcaster Laura Westbrook sits down with two members of the FCC for two very different perspectives on 2024 and the year that was. Harry Harrison might just be the last surviving daily editorial cartoonist in Hong Kong, and speaks about his favourite news moments of the year, the prospect of drawing Donald Trump for four more years, and the real-life backgrounds and stories of some of his regular characters. Hear also his choice of which of those characters he'd love to see turned into a giant inflatable for a special "mega event" in Hong Kong. FCC president Lee Williamson talks about 2024 and the FCC's return to its role in showing support for the community of journalists in Hong Kong: from the return of the annual journalism conference and its motto of "let's get to work" to the number of public statements issued by the FCC on behalf of the safety and welfare of journalists and the importance of press freedom. You'll also hear his personal highlights of the guest speakers who came to visit, from economists and political thinkers to Pulitzer Prize winning musician Wynton Marsalis and executive editor the New York Times, Joe Kahn.Written and produced by Jarrod Watt.

The Foreign Correspondents’ Club, Hong Kong announced a little while ago that Kriti Gandhi and Jay Ganglani are the recipients of the sixth annual Clare Hollingworth Fellowship, named in honor of the preeminent and path-breaking journalist. Listen in as they discuss why they chose careers in journalism at a time when the future of news appears mostly bleak. Hear them discuss how the changing news habits of GenZ will impact traditional news companies, and how their generation of journalists hope to shape the style of news coverage in the future. Presented and produced by Jarrod Watt.

Hear veteran broadcast journalist Karen Koh in discussion with Chinese foreign correspondent Dr Rose Luqiu and Hong Kong-born international broadcast journalist Laura Westbrook on the upcoming US election, from an Asian perspective: what is being discussed on Chinese social media and in state media, how "third culture" people view the attacks on Kamala Harris' mixed race heritage, how sexism and "strongman" culture dominate Chinese media narrative how US foreign policy is viewed very differently from this side of the world.Episode written and produced by Jarrod Watt

Grammy and Pulitzer-prize winning trumpeter, composer and band leader Wynton Marsalis has this month toured with his Lincoln Jazz Centre Orchestra through Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen and Hong Kong dropped by for a QandA at the FCC with Robin Ewing, director of the Journalism Masters program at Hong Kong Baptist University and presenter of the RTHK3 'Feelin Kinda Sunday' program. It was incidentally the 63rd birthday for Mr Marsalis, and he reflects on his childhood, what he's learned teaching new generations of musicians as well as new compositions of music influenced by a tradition of American jazz in China begun almost 100 years ago. You’ll also hear the audience Q & A session in which Mr Marsalis fields questions about the role of AI in music, gender bias in jazz, comparisons between jazz and journalism, the traditions of democracy and jazz, as well as his deeply felt intellectual response to hip-hop music. Photo credit: Ben Marans @benmaransphotographyhttps://www.benmaransphotography.com/

Author, broadcaster and art critic John Batten discusses the life and legacy of architect IM Pei with Karen Koh, based on his published article in the latest FCC magazine "A Life in Architecture". Hear the history and symbolic post-colonial importance of the design of the Bank of China building, wrongly characterized as "a knife pointed towards China", and of the details you need to know in the M+ exhibition on IM Pei's life and works.Episode written and produced by Jarrod Watt

Selina Cheng, chair of the Hong Kong Journalists' Association discusses the revelations of a campaign to intimidate journalists and their families by self-described "patriots" in what appears to be a coordinated campaign, how the Hong Kong government and tech companies Meta and Wikimedia have responded, and how the HKJA is helping journalists fight back. Hear her also speak to her own experience of losing her job at the Wall Street Journal soon after becoming chair of the HKJA, and the support she has received globally from WSJ staff, fellow journalists and unions based in the USA.Episode written, produced and presented by Jarrod Watt Sources:Hong Kong journalists’ union says reporters, relatives and their bosses targeted in harassment campaign; SCMP Sept 13, 2024Hong Kong Customs clarifies on Hong Kong Journalists Association's press conference; Hong Kong Govt Sept 13, 2024

Hear the FCC statement published on August 29th upon the trial and conviction of Hong Kong journalists Chung Pui-kuen and Patrick Lam for their roles in reporting, editing and publishing interviews, features and opinion pieces. Of the 17 articles the court considered, many had been taken down and only five remained active at the time of their arrest, but the Wan Chai District Court ruled that 11 had “seditious intentions”. 

Britt Clennett is a correspondent for US broadcaster ABC News, based in Hong Kong and has spent the past 10 years covering stories in Hong Kong, mainland China and most recently Ukraine and Gaza. In this conversation she discusses her feature article 'Staying Human' in which she looks at the challenges to journalistic impartiality, finding humanity amongst deep generational hatred, and how she deals with the mental health challenges in covering violent and bloody conflict.Episode written, produced and presented by Jarrod Watt

An in-depth discussion between FCC president Lee Williamson and Joe Kahn, two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, former China correspondent for the Wall Street Journal and executive editor of the New York Times since 2022. Kahn discusses how the NYT coverage of Hong Kong and mainland China has changed, and how it reflects the changing environment of local and national security laws as well as the relationship between Beijing and Washington. Hear also how the NYT works to maintain its editorial independence and confront disinformation in this US election year, and how the ongoing digital transition has changed reporting, how Instagram and TikTok have changed priorities, and how generative AI challenges journalists' ethics, as well as the NYT lawsuit against Open AI.