The @WorldPressPhoto awards is one of the world's most prestigious photojournalism awards. They just announced the winners, with the Best Interactive prize going to a 360-degree video by @ChinaDaily about the siege of PolyU during the #HongKongProtests. 1/
China Daily is a mouthpiece for the Chinese Communist Party. It is owned by the CCP's Publicity Department. In February, the US State Department named China Daily an operative of the state, meaning it meets the definition of a foreign mission. 2/
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state.gov/senior-state-d…
.@WorldPressPhoto says its "advocacy of free inquiry, free expression, free speech, and a free press is stronger than ever". But it just awarded a media org owned by the govt that jailed more journalists than any other country in the world in 2019, according to @CPJAsia. 3/
Not only that, but the video is about the #HongKongProtests, a movement that is fighting the CCP, and the very movement the CCP is suppressing. Again, China Daily is a state-owned CCP mouthpiece. That's a conflict of interest, to say the least. 4/
A quick perusal of China Daily will show you what a joke it is. Just yesterday, it published an editorial saying "the economy [has] yet to recover from the battering it took as a result of the rioting that plagued Hong Kong". 5/
global.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202004/15/WS…
global.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202004/15/WS…
Today, an article about Beijing's top HK official calling the Hong Kong a "weak link in national security" refers to the protests as "radicalism and street violence" that "undermin[ed] the rule of law". These are just small, recent examples. 6/
chinadaily.com.cn/a/202004/16/WS…
chinadaily.com.cn/a/202004/16/WS…
The video itself, which does capture impressive, immersive footage, is not blatantly problematic, but it gives no context or background. WPP does not mention any conflict of interest on its website or in the 2-minute interview with the maker of the winning video. 7/
It makes me very worried that @WorldPressPhoto would give @ChinaDaily, a mouthpiece for the CCP, an award for a video about the #HongKongProtests. At the very very least, they could have added a disclaimer about the conflict of interest. 8/
Winning the @WorldPressPhoto award gives @ChinaDaily credibility it does not deserve, and give the Chinese government fodder to claim that it supports press freedom. It will in fact help the CCP to further suppress press freedom. 9/
And yes, full disclaimer: I am a photojournalist and I submitted photos from the Hong Kong protests to this year's World Press Photo awards. I did not win any awards. (I am super glad that @NAsfouri did though!) 10/
PS: I don't know why, but WPP deleted its tweet announcing China Daily's win. Here's an earlier tweet about the video: 11/
An example of China Daily literally creating and spreading absurd fake news during the #hongkongprotests. /12
China Daily's announcement of the @WorldPressPhoto award uses wording like "hard-core radicals", "rampage", "violent radicals". China's Foreign Ministry uses the same phrases to justify violence by the Hong Kong Police Force. /13
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chinadaily.com.cn/a/202004/17/WS…
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In the official announcement of the winners, @WorldPressPhoto said the piece "immerses the viewer in a defining moment in the history of democracy in Hong Kong". Unsurprisingly, China Daily doesn't mention the word "democracy" in its own announcement of the win. /14
By legitimizing CD, @WorldPressPhoto is complicit in legitimizing violence against HK protesters & thus complicit in the CCP's aim of stopping HK from having a "history of democracy". The vid is impressive. But WPP has a responsibility to contextualize it if they're awarding it.
@WorldPressPhoto is an important, respected organization w/ great clout. Their awards are a huge honor coveted by any visual journalist; winning a WPP award is career-changing. The WPPF celebrates the power of the freedom of press. It needs to do its part in upholding it. /16
If there's any doubt that China Daily uses its association with @WorldPressPhoto to bolster its own credibility, here's a 2016 article about the same staffer who made the winning video chairing a WPPF jury. 17/ chinadailyasia.com/hknews/2016-11…
