Thread by @DanielDumbrill

The Problems Hong Kong Free Press

"Direct donations make up 84% of our income and remain the best way of insuring our independence and press freedom."

Does it really work like this though?

Let's consider this claim.

#HongKong

What's the main alternative? Corporate advertising. We can see for ourselves that companies like Toyota will advertise on conservative as well as liberal news networks. They're paying for customers and quite frankly they don't care about the political views of it's customers.

You might occasionally see specialized products with a more specific target market that may prefer advertising on one side or the other & big brands might adjust messages to speak to different customers differently, but their target is usually sales & revenue NOT agenda building

How about HKFP? What are their donors paying for? Considering the content is free it will be readers who like what's being written & what they'd like others to see. Write too much of what they don't like, you'll probably lose donors. Perhaps the riddle in this vid says something

You'd be pretty optimistic to think readers pay because half the time HKFP gives one side of the story, and the other half the other side. It's evident by their coverage that this is not the case. Considering the divisions in HK, crowdfunded propaganda is a more likely suspect.

Furthermore, consider WHEN they crowd funded. Right around the umbrella movement. Moderates who don't have a particular issue with HK and are going about their daily lives aren't the easy ones to nab as donors, it's the people willing to shut down their city to make a point

Tom Grundy admitted to receiving a lot of support from NGO's, but it's difficult to find any more information on who exactly they were. As such it would be irresponsible to definitively call this an issue, but is certainly concerning considering many NGO's act as propaganda arms

Next consider the ethics of it's founder @tomgrundy by a relative lack of reaction to fake press vests used by protesters VS when someone caught a scene & story he's continually neglected. He assisted further doxxing a guy already hiding from death threats

https://twitter.com/DanielDumbrill/status/1177027352586407936?s=19

Do a quick search through reddit for HKFP related discussions. The ironic contradictions in conflict with their so called mission statement are comical.

It's the unethical & deceptive work of HKFP & people like Tom with their carefully curated propaganda, rampant censorship, villainization of police, glossing over of terrorism & commitment to hold only one side accountable that's helping continually escelate the situation in HK