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| The Foreign Correspondents’ Club Awards Clare Hollingworth Fellowships |
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| FELLOWS |
| Trista Xinyi Luo |
| Trista Xinyi Luo is a reporter at Bloomberg News, where she covers the debt capital markets and the evolving financial landscape in Greater China. She relocated to Hong Kong from New York in 2023 with Bloomberg. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Journalism from the University of Missouri. |
| Samra Zulfaqar |
| Samra Zulfaqar joined CNN as a freelance News Editorial Researcher and Planning Producer following her internship covering political and social issues across East and Southeast Asia. Before that Samra has interned at NBC News, primarily contributing to the Israel-Gaza War live blogs. She recently graduated from The University of Hong Kong with a degree in Journalism and International Relations. Outside of work, Samra enjoys doing yoga and hiking. |
| The Foreign Correspondents’ Club, Hong Kong is pleased to announce that it has chosen Trista Xinyi Luo and Samra Zulfaqar as recipients of the seventh annual Clare Hollingworth Fellowship, named in honor of the preeminent and path-breaking journalist. |
| The panel of judges noted the winners offer clear potential as future leaders both within the FCC and in the wider Hong Kong journalism community. |
| The Fellowship is focused on early-career journalists and current journalism school students in Hong Kong. |
| The open competition drew significant interest from a cross spectrum of applicants. The adjudicators noted the high standard of applicants and encouraged all to apply again next year. |
| For further information on the Clare Hollingworth Fellowship, please visit: https://www.fcchk.org/fcc-clare-hollingworth-fellowship-2025-2026-applications-open/ |
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Letter from the President
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| Dear Members, |
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| This may sound like a curious question coming from the President of a press club, but recently I’ve found myself wondering, what is a journalist? For the sake of our Club’s membership, the answer is fairly simple. We look for the majority of a Member’s income to come from journalistic activity, and then where that work is published. Looking up “journalist” in a dictionary will find something along the lines of “a person who writes for newspapers, magazines, news websites or prepares news to be broadcast”. |
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| It feels like it should be simple enough to define the role of a journalist but, as we have found throughout history, people, particularly those in positions of authority, will produce rather nebulous definitions of journalism. If we look to the United States, the current administration has embraced what they call “new media”, which includes a pool of clearly partisan publications and people many of us would opt to call “influencers”. |
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| But the presence or lack of objectivity cannot help us define a journalist. As much as the media tries to produce news that is “unbiased” and “objective”, the reality is that objectivity is a relatively new phenomenon in journalism. Historically, publications have taken sides. What most of us as journalists now try to achieve is something that is as critical and objective as possible. This generally relies on what we hope is a media literate consumer who will read and watch news produced by multiple platforms. It also relies on the ability of multiple publications, staffed by diverse journalists, to produce news. |
| This diversity is often stifled, both intentionally and unintentionally. The latter is something that we, as an industry, need to more consciously address. The former is a bit more clear cut. While I can’t argue with the need to redefine journalism in the 21st century, the “new media” pool in The White House seems to clearly lack diverse thought. Likewise, when we look at the media situation in Gaza, we see foreign media shut out. That creates a reliance on local journalists who can both more readily be accused of bias by outsiders, and a stifling of information that international journalists may be able to report and share with their home consumers. |
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| What concerns me, as a member of the press and the President of the FCC, is how we identify and react to bias. Media-literate consumers should be able to look to multiple news sources to recognise bias in a way that makes them more critical and knowledgeable. But too often perceived, or real, bias is weaponised. It becomes an excuse, by all sides, to crush voices of opposition. What we are seeing in places like Nepal and Gaza is violent, intentional repression of the media. |
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| We may differ slightly in our definitions of a journalist, but in my position, I will continue to stand for the right of all journalists to work without fear of repercussions. Journalists are civilians, and journalism is not a crime. |
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| Best Regards, |
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| Morgan M. Davis President |
| [email protected] |
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Asia needs another Formula One destination says racing expert Matthew Marsh
By Hugo Novales
As Formula One inches closer toward the end of its longest-ever season, former racecar driver and motorsport expert Matthew Marsh returned to the FCC to share his latest insights with a crowd of the Club’s most dedicated F1 fans.
With Second Vice President Tim Huxley moderating the discussion, Marsh first talked about McLaren’s management issues and how they impact the team’s top drivers, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.
“The road to hell is paved with good intentions,” Marsh said when reflecting on the McLaren drama in a follow-up interview after his FCC talk.
Drama — nothing new for F1 — dates back to the 2024 Hungarian Grand Prix where Norris initially declined orders to allow Piastri to overtake him for first place. Piastri was in danger of being passed by Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton, and with just two laps remaining, Norris changed his mind, allowing Piastri to secure his first-ever F1 victory while Norris and Hamilton placed in second and third, respectively.
Since then, McLaren has experienced a variety of position swap decision disputes that threaten both the team’s stability and ranking against other F1 teams.
Marsh compared McLaren’s internal trouble with that of Red Bull, who in July sacked team principal Christian Horner 17 months after being accused of inappropriate conduct, accusations that he was later cleared of after an internal investigation. The team made several other staff changes, and unlike McLaren, continued upgrading and improving their cars.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen still stands in third place in F1’s overall rankings with 306 points while Piastri holds first with 346 and Norris holds second with 332, yet Marsh believes Red Bull’s continuous push for solid performance and improved engineering could lead to Verstappen becoming this year’s champion.
“[At] F1, we like to support the underdog,” he said. “I think most of us want to see the underdog come through, and Max [Verstappen] is now the underdog, and it’s a great story.”
Marsh went on to praise Verstappen’s performance this season, noting that he “never has a bad weekend” and secures wins consistently and without error.
“If you can win, win it now,” Marsh added, highlighting the competitive and ever-changing nature of F1.
The 2025 season has seen only three F1 races in East Asia: Round 2 in China, Round 3 in Japan, and Round 18 in Singapore. Plans for an F1 track in Vietnam have been scrapped, which could impact Thailand’s ambitions for a 2028 race. If Thailand eventually pulls out, Marsh finds that this move would be Thailand “shooting itself in the foot” out of cost and logistics concerns.
“We do need an extra race in Asia,” Marsh said.
If not Thailand, then who? Seoul in South Korea, as well as the FCC’s very home of Hong Kong are the only two potential candidates that make sense to Marsh, yet getting to this particular finish line will be just as much work (if not more) than competing in an actual F1 race. Both a visionary project leader and buy-in from government officials are key to bringing any city’s ambitions to host F1 to life.
Despite the common pushbacks to hosting an F1 race, Marsh’s stance is that the hard work in building a new F1 destination in Asia will benefit tenfold for both the local economy and national pride. He cited his experience living in Singapore where a single F1 event encapsulates the city.
“To have your city on the stage to show that you can host a Grand Prix… How proud do you feel about the fact that your nation puts on one of these — only 24 in the world — and executes it?” Marsh asked rhetorically.
Marsh also shared his views on the accuracy of F1: The Movie (2025), Ferrari’s performance in comparison to other leading F1 teams, Apple’s impact on F1, and more.
To watch the full discussion, please visit the FCC’s YouTube channel:
Remembering the Vietnam War Through FCC Eyes
By Hugo Novales
The Vietnam War ended on April 30, 1975, just over 50 years ago. Spanning nearly two decades and resulting in a total loss of over a million lives, it was one of the longest and deadliest conflicts that shaped history and still echoes today.
The Vietnam War also made an impact on the FCC and the journalism industry as a whole.
During the war, the FCC became a hotspot for journalists covering the conflict, as did Saigon, the former capital of South Vietnam where correspondents were free to live and work — much unlike the arrangements for journalists in World Wars I and II. Many of the war’s iconic photographs, including the last helicopter out of Saigon, were even taken by FCC members.
The FCC’s Bunker, a quiet room located next to the Main Bar and Lounge, is dedicated to the Vietnam War and all the correspondents who risked their lives to cover it. Photographs, memorial plaques, and even some of the original cameras that these journalists used are all on display.
Earlier this year, the FCC hosted a Club Lunch to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the end of the war with a panel of correspondents and other notable FCC members who witnessed the conflict firsthand.
Moderating the discussion was Correspondent Governor Jennifer Jett, who asked Edie Lederer, the first panelist, about this year’s Reunification Day celebrations which she attended at the invitation of the Vietnamese government.
“[It was] very, very joyous,” she said.
Lederer was the first woman to cover the Vietnam War full time for the Associated Press and later became the AP’s first female bureau chief overseas, in Lima, Peru. She also lived and worked in Hong Kong. She has been the AP’s chief correspondent at the United Nations for the past 25 years, and her reporting career has taken her to every continent except Antarctica.
Previous celebrations (which Lederer also attended) didn’t have as many young people show up when compared to this year’s event. The Covid-19 pandemic canceled the 45th Reunification Day parade that would have taken place in 2020, which ultimately led to a massive and highly anticipated parade this year — the first in 10 years.
Lederer, along with other correspondents from the Vietnam era, was able to reminisce about her days as a war correspondent during the occasion. She shared what it was like for her and others to relive some of the most dangerous days of their lives.
“[It’s a] terrific, emotional, cathartic experience for a lot of them as it was for me,” she said.
Annie van Es, the second panelist, was not a journalist herself but was able to witness her late husband Hubert “Hugh” van Es and his fellow correspondents relive their “shared danger” back when they lived in Saigon from 1969 to 1972.
She described Saigon as a “very livable and fun place” that was actually far away from the battlefield. When Hugh would come back from his reporting trips, the couple would often gather with his fellow war correspondents at bars across Saigon so they could decompress over a few drinks. This is where Annie was able to hear their stories and see how Vietnam correspondents bonded over their “close brushes with death.”
The panel then explored Hugh van Es’s self-assessment of his own work covering the Vietnam War.
Kees Metselaar, a fellow Dutchman and close friend of Hugh van Es, was willed Hugh’s collection of photographs and other journalistic materials after he passed away in 2009. As the third panelist, he shared what Hugh thought of his own work, revealing that while his photo of evacuees lined up on a Saigon rooftop trying to escape via helicopter was one of the most iconic photos from the war’s end, it was merely “accidental.”
Hugh, accompanied by a group of soldiers and other correspondents, noticed that the roof of the building across the street from their office was being reinforced with steel just a couple of days before the evacuation. They kept a close eye on the building and Hugh was able to capture the iconic shot as if it were just another day on the job — nothing more, nothing less.
Metselaar said Hugh was more proud of his work covering the Battle of Hamburger Hill, a controversial battle that resulted in the loss of many American lives despite holding little strategic value in the conflict.
Hugh’s photos, along with the coverage from various other news organizations, spurred widespread U.S. criticism of the battle as well as the overall U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War, which continued to be mired in controversy until its chaotic end in 1975.
To watch the full discussion, please visit the FCC’s YouTube channel: