Statement on Results of FCC Press Freedom Survey 2025-2026

Between February and March, the FCC Press Freedom Committee surveyed Correspondent and Journalist members in an annual exercise to understand how the sentiment and perception of the local environment has changed for the Club’s media professionals.

The survey received 78 anonymous responses, representing a 27% response rate, compared to 21% last year.

67% of respondents said the working environment for them as a journalist had changed for the worse in the last 12 months, and more than 50% said sources had become less willing to be quoted during the same period.

65% of respondents said they have a clear sense of what subjects are sensitive, compared to 78% last year. 37% percent of them said they had not at all encountered censorship in their news organizations, with 28% experiencing “slight” censorship and 15% “considerably.”

33% of respondents said their organizations have downsized in Hong Kong, with 33% of them citing both the changing political and legal environment as well as corporate cost-cutting as the reason. 17% of them said their organizations have increased staffing in the city over the past year, with 40% of them citing both the growing importance of Hong Kong and more investment from the parent company as the reason.

The FCC supports journalists’ fundamental right to conduct their work freely and without fear of intimidation or harassment.

We will continue to safeguard press freedom in the city, via engagement with the journalism community and relevant stakeholders, in order to make sure that Hong Kong remains an international hub for media, business and finance.

Read the full results of the survey in the latest edition of the club’s magazine, The Correspondent.