Selina Cheng, The Wall Street Journal reporter fired after being elected president of the Hong Kong Journalists Association, writes about her experience for Columbia Journalism Review.
Cheng writes, “Because I was the only candidate running for chair, my withdrawal would have meant that union operations were paralyzed. So when I won, I stayed on. For three weeks I existed in a kind of limbo. And then, on July 17, I was fired. The Journal told me it was restructuring. When two previous rounds of layoffs affected more than a dozen journalists and editors, I had been told my position was secure. But this round there was one layoff: me.
“The Global Times, controlled by the Chinese state, said that the Journal’s decision was intended to distance it from our union, because we ‘wantonly defame[d]’ the government.
“My situation was not unique. I had fielded resignations from other board members who faced similar pressure from their employers. Journalists and employers who sought support from us are now understandably wary of potential backlash by association.
“And I am without a job. A striking contrast sprang to mind. Over the past year the Journal rallied its entire staff to a campaign for the release of Evan Gershkovich, who was handed a sixteen-year sentence by a Russian court Friday, after a sham three-day trial and unlawful detention for more than a year.”
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