After Apple Daily, Stand News Might be Next

A vendor spotted selling back copies of Apple Daily today

 

People are still reeling from the loss of Apple Daily.

A friend told me the other day, whenever she wanted to find out the latest news, she automatically turned to the Apple Daily app on her phone and then realized it was blank. Now my friend, along with millions of others are wondering what news media they can read now. 

A mini version of Apple Daily (right)

This weekend some news stands sold back copies of Apple Daily to the delight of souvenir hunters, while others got really creative and made mini copies of the last edition of the paper. "Easier to bring along when you move. Remind your kids about Apple Daily," one sign says.

However, that newspaper is not the only one that is vulnerable -- Stand News may be the next target.

Today the popular pro-democracy web media, which was founded after the 2014 Umbrella protests, announced it has taken a number of measures to protect itself, its staff and readers. 

It will remove all opinion pieces and commentaries published in May or earlier, and will only consider re-posting with the consent of the authors, while news reporting has remain unchanged.

However, six of the parent company's eight directors have resigned, including barrister Margaret Ng Ngoi-yee, singer Denise Ho Wan-see, and columnist Joseph Lian Yizheng.

Two founding directors, Tony Tsoi Tung-ho and chief editor Chung Pui-kuen will stay on.

While Stand News relies on subscriptions and donations to operate, it has said it will stop its monthly membership sponsorship scheme, and stop receiving donations.

Stand News is trying to mitigate possible attacks

"We have enough money to run for another nine to 12 months. If necessary, we will seek help again from Hongkongers in future," Stand News said.

It has terminated the employment contracts of its journalists to protect them and compensated them with higher salaries than legally required. The vast majority will continue to work for Stand News.

Defending press freedom these days requires courage. And fearlessness.