“That was frustrating,” one current reporter told me “they’ve given an impression that SCMP is anti protesters. As journalists, we should never be pro or against protesters.” A look at some tensions inside Hong Kong’s biggest English language newspaper. theatlantic.com/international/…
When I started reporting this story I was told SCMP higher ups were extremely touchy and defensive about even the slightest hint of criticism about the newspaper. And wow, they were right.
The SCMP CEO @garyliu never responded to me, but his PR people and executive editor launched a really remarkable campaign to discredit me, bad mouth my previous work, mock @TheAtlantic and avoid answering any questions directly. When they did, they ended on this note: 
It’s a telling way to deal with critical media. The SCMP’s PR people accused its own reporters of being “quite libelous” when they spoke to me. Adding to the oddness of the entire affair is that the SCMP was in talks last year with The Atlantic for a tie up.
