The Correspondent

Laura Westbrook and Elaine Lai are journalists both born and raised in Hong Kong and both were reporting on the Tai Po tower fires for foreign news organisations.In many ways they experienced this news event very differently from both local and overseas born journalists covering this disaster.Laura Westbrook works for broadcast media channels all over the world, covering news all over south east Asia, but has been most recently - and most prominently - been reporting for the Al Jazeera channel, while Elaine Lai is a fourth year journalism student at Hong Kong Baptist University who works as an intern for Associated Press and also works as editor in chief of Hong Kong’s oldest student newspaper, the Young Reporter.Tai Po is where Elaine was born and raised, and where Laura started her first job in broadcast journalism. Both were among the first media on the scene, and subsequently worked for days on end covering what is now one of the worst fire disasters in Hong Kong's history. They discuss some of what was missed in world media coverage of Tai Po, and what it was like to see the blossoming of a huge community response for the fire victims which was ultimately shut down by a government concerned about un-named "hostile external forces".The conversation also touches on the impact of the fire on the local community and the role of social media in shaping public perceptions, and how overseas media narratives quick to blame Hong Kong's historic tradition of bamboo scaffolding for the fire's spread lead to a surge of Hongkongers taking to social media to refute these narratives. They speak about their efforts to manage mental health and exhaustion in days-long shifts dominated by trying to keep track of social media.Find out how the FCC has joined the aid effort and how you can help the victims of the Tai Po fire:https://www.fcchk.org/stand-together-how-you-can-support-the-tai-po-recovery-efforts/The Young Reporter: https://tyr-jour.hkbu.edu.hk/Written and produced by Jarrod WattTheme music composed and performed by Allen Youngblood

Nobel laureate Professor Joseph Stiglitz delivers a stark assessment of America's economic trajectory in this compelling and wide-ranging conversation with veteran broadcast journalist and Foreign Correspondents' Club of Hong Kong first vice president Karen Koh. Drawing parallels between current political upheaval and historical threats to democratic institutions, Stiglitz argues that abandoning Enlightenment principles - science, education, and rule of law - undermines long-term economic prosperity. From the AI bubble inflating tech stocks while leaving Main Street behind, to immigration policies creating labor shortages across industries, Stiglitz dissects how policy chaos breeds uncertainty that stifles investment and consumer confidence. He challenges conventional wisdom on manufacturing revival through tariffs, advocating instead for innovation in green technology and construction.The discussion spans critical global challenges: deteriorating US-China relations hampering climate cooperation, trade deficits worsened by fiscal irresponsibility, and the emergence of a fragmented world order made more perilous by the complex geopolitical relationships involving North Korea, China, and Russia. Stiglitz warns that America's retreat from international leadership has created a "G minus one" scenario where other nations advance multilateral solutions without US participation. This episode offers essential insights for understanding how domestic political choices ripple through global markets, supply chains, and diplomatic relationships - and how all of this gets just a bit more complicated with the arrival of AI and its associated investment bubble.Produced by Jarrod Watt.Theme music composed and performed by Allen Youngblood.

This episode is the audio of a recent FCC Hong Kong Club Lunch, moderated by FCC correspondent governor Jing Yang, in conversation with award-winning investigative journalist Karen Hao. Hao's investigation of Open AI and her subsequent book the Empire of AI is a bestseller. Yang begins the conversation by delving into one of AI’s most vexing questions: what is intelligence, and why is it so difficult to measure?Here's how AI summarised the ensuing discussion:From failed benchmarks and the philosophical roots of AI debates to the rise of machine learning, listeners learn why scientific consensus on intelligence remains elusive, complicating assessments of both human and artificial intellect. The conversation tracks OpenAI’s history—from early disappointments with games like chess and Dota, through securing multi-billion-dollar funding, to its dominance and ethical controversy in the modern AI industry. With a spotlight on exploitative hidden labor in developing countries, the podcast unpacks how the race for AGI reshapes economic power, policy, and technology investments. Hao explores OpenAI’s market strategy, financial risks, and political influence, as well as the disruptive trends from open-source competitors and global innovation. Ultimately, the episode challenges listeners to confront the growing ethical, financial, and philosophical stakes behind AI’s ongoing revolution.Find more Club Lunches and QandA sessions with guest experts and authors at the FCC Hong Kong Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@FCCHKFCCWritten and produced by Jarrod WattFCC podcast music composed by Allen Youngblood

Meet some of the Gen Z journalists awarded the Clare Hollingsworth Fellowship for the Foreign Correspondent's Club in Hong Kong: Jay Ganglani, Kriti Gandhi, and Samra Zafalqar.The Fellowship is named in honour of Clare Hollingsworth, a legendary journalist and a long time member of the FCC - most famously associated with what has become known as the scoop of the century - when as a rookie reporter way back in 1939 travelling through Poland she spotted and reported the German army forces massing on the Polish border.She didn’t stop there - she went on to travel to and report from Palestine, Algeria, China, Yemen and Vietnam, earning herself the moniker the “doyenne of the war correspondents” and died just 8 years ago here in Hong Kong at the ripe old age of 105. She’s a shining example of a journalist forever curious, forever ambitious and forever in the hunt for the big story - and you’re about to meet some of the people who have been selected by the FCC panel to receive the Clare Hollingsworth fellowship.Jay and Kriti have just spent the last 12 months as Hollingsworth Fellowship holders, and reflect on the experiences in that role as well as what they've witnessed in the newsrooms they work in. They share the mic with Samra Zulfaqar, one of the newly announed Hollingsworth Fellowship holders for 2025-26, along with Trista Xinyi Luo.Learn more about the Clare Hollingsworth Fellowship: https://www.fcchk.org/fcc-clare-hollingworth-fellowship-2025-2026-applications-open/ 

Statement issued on on behalf of the FCC Hong Kong board on Friday, August 22:The Foreign Correspondents’ Club, Hong Kong is deeply concerned by the confirmation that Bloomberg journalist Rebecca Choong Wilkins has had her visa renewal application denied.Choong Wilkins has worked for Bloomberg in Hong Kong for the past six years, most recently as a senior reporter on the Asia government and economy team. We understand that authorities did not give any reason for the denial of her visa renewal.Regrettably, this decision and the lack of explanation reinforces widespread concerns about the erosion of press freedom in Hong Kong, which is protected under the Basic Law and the Bill of Rights. We support any application for this decision to be urgently reviewed and call for future applications for employment visas and visa extensions for international journalists to be handled in a timely and transparent manner.The FCC has contacted the Immigration Department to seek clarification. While we appreciate that in normal circumstances the Immigration Department cannot comment on individual cases, we contend that in cases such as this involving an international journalist, it is important to provide the visa applicant with a proper explanation for any denial of work visas or entry into Hong Kong. This suggested improvement to the system would show greater transparency in dealing with freedom of the press, which is vital to preserving Hong Kong’s image as an international business centre.

A love letter to Hong Kong and a tribute to the journalist credited with changing modern journalism.In 1960 the acclaimed journalist Gay Talese wrote a piece for Esquire magazine titled “New York Is A City of Things Unnoticed”, detailing his many observations of people and places based on his wandering and exploring of the city that never sleeps. Talese is most famous for his longform article "Frank Sinatra has a cold" in which he pioneered an in-depth literary-styled form of storytelling to profile the famed singer. However, it is his piece about New York which informs this special episode, based on historical research and observations of the architecture, the people and daily life in taxis, wet markets and the streets of Hong Kong.Not far from the new Kai Tak stadium in Hong Kong is a small stone monument carved with the Chinese characters for “Sung Wong Toi” - “Terrace of the kings of the Song dynasty" - in the year 1279. It was once a 45 metre high monument to the child king who gave Kowloon its name, translated from the Cantonese words for "Nine Dragons". Look closely at the knife-shaped Bank of China tower and you'll see another tower with what appears to be cannons aimed at its banking competitor. Pick the right double-decker tram and you will be on the oldest operational example of its kind in the world. Learn why Hong Kong taxi cab drivers call each other to say they’re “banging the gong” when driving to Causeway Bay, why they call particular types of fares a “chicken foot” and the passive-aggressive meaning of why drivers tuck CDs behind their rear view mirrors. Learn about the place where statues of the Christian, Chinese, Thai and Indian gods are not so much disposed of as concreted into retirement. .. and much more.Written by Billy Potts and Jarrod WattBilly Potts on Instagram: @handsome.coPresented by Billy Potts, Jason Budovitch, Lauren James, Laura Westbrook, Maria Spackman and Robin EwingProduced by Jarrod WattPodcast theme music composed by Allen Youngblood

Morgan Davis is the newly elected president for the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Hong Kong and in this episode discusses the priorities she has in her term, taking on everything from lease negotiations and statements about press freedom to the battle against bad coffee and the long list of requests for guest speakers.You'll also hear her discuss the process by which the FCC publishes statements on behalf of its members and the importance of maintaining the FCC's voice in speaking up on issues affecting journalists, as well as the people who have influenced her both as a working journalist and as an educator of journalists - from Gay Talese to Ira Glass, Ida B Welles, Upton Sinclair and Patrick Radden Keefe.Written and produced by Jarrod WattTheme music composed by Allen Youngblood

Broadcast journalist Laura Westbrook sits down with arts journalist, curator and longtime FCC member John Batten in the room known as the "Bunker" in the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Hong Kong to unravel the controversy behind the iconic photo known officially as "The Terror of War" and known more widely as "Napalm Girl" from the American war in Vietnam. Together, they examine new findings from the Associated Press and World Press Photo investigations, which found no conclusive evidence confirming or denying Nick Ut’s authorship of the image. The episode explores revelations from the documentary "The Stringer," raising questions about the role of gatekeepers in the editorial chain, the role of freelance photographers and the ethics of photo attribution in journalism.John Batten looks at the long relationship between the FCC and war photographers coming from Vietnam for R&R breaks in Hong Kong, and the visual legacy hanging on the walls of the Bunker showing a range of photographs considered iconic moments captured during the war in Vietnam.Discover the ethical and historical implications of the AP’s handling of the photograph, the importance of accurate credit in journalism, and how this controversy shapes the legacy of one of history’s most powerful war images. Laura and John reflect on truth, accuracy, and the future of journalistic integrity.Written and produced by Jarrod WattTheme music composed by Allen Youngblood