WSJ reporter says she was sacked for leading Hong Kong journalists association

Ms Cheng said she was unaffected when the Journal laid off many of its staff members in May.

ADEFEMOLA AKINTADE • July 18, 2024

Wall Street Journal [Credit: Medium]

Selina Cheng based in Hong Kong on Wednesday accused her former employer, Wall Street Journal, of terminating her contract after she got elected to chair the Hong Kong Journalists Association; a position she claimed her employers warned her not to take.

Ms Cheng, 32, said WSJ management through her supervisor asked her to withdraw from the election and quit the Association’s board despite having served on the board since 2021 and obtaining approval to remain on the board when she joined the Journal.

Ms Cheng said she was unaffected when the Journal laid off many of its staff members in May and later learnt that the editor-in-chief Emma Tucker, deemed her beat, the Chinese Electricity Vehicles, “as one of the biggest stories to focus on in Asia.”

Although the journal explained the reason for her termination as “restructuring,” Ms Cheng strongly believed that it had to do with her new position as the HKJA leader, a role she took on June 22 and also because she had been specifically told on the election eve the role “would be incompatible with my employment at the Wall Street Journal.”

“The editor said employees of the journal should not be seen as advocating press freedom in a place like Hong Kong, even though they can in Western countries, where it is already established,” Ms Cheng said in the statement posted on her X account.

According to Ms Cheng, her supervisor said that her leadership role at HKJA would conflict with her editorial duty given that the journal already reported “incidents related to press freedom” and “trials against the press.”

“I am disappointed if these editors abroad have come to think press freedom is a controversial issue, as those who wish to intimidate reporters might like us to believe,” the former WSJ reporter said on Wednesday. “It is not.”

“While we can confirm that we made some personnel changes today, we don’t comment on specific individuals, The Wall Street Journal has been and continues to be a fierce and vocal advocate for press freedom in Hong Kong and around the world,” The Guardian quoted a spokesperson for Dow Jones —-WSJ’s parent company as saying.

“The Wall Street Journal has been and continues to be a fierce and vocal advocate for press freedom in Hong Kong and around the world.”

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