California Assembly Bill 5 was meant to protect workers in the “gig economy”. Instead, it is driving some freelance journalists out of work, and others out of the state. Morgan M. Davis reports.

Freedom of the press is backsliding across Asia as authoritarian leaders demand total control over information.

The modern Olympic Games have been cancelled three times, in World War One and World War Two. This time, the coronavirus has postponed them. Julian Ryall reports from Tokyo on how the sports media are coping.

When face masks sold out in Hong Kong and people started queuing round the block on the back of rumours that new supplies were available, Jack Lau decided to investigate how to reuse the ones he had.

The FCC closed for two days last month for a “deep cleaning” after a member was confirmed with COVID-19. Kate Whitehead reports.

From taking care of their own health to making sure they get their facts straight in the middle of chaos, reporters on the frontline of the coronavirus story in Hong Kong see no let-up in their workload. Elizabeth Cheung reports.

The Correspondent asked freelance photographer and FCC member May James to look at how coronavirus is changing Hong Kong. After months working on the front line of the city’s protests, she found a very different picture

Former BBC reporter Andrew Shaw is proof that there is life after journalism, even if it took extreme changes for him to achieve it. Kate Whitehead tells his unusual story.

Long-term FCC member, the late Walter Kent, will be remembered for his punctual time-keeping now that part of his bequest to the club has been put in its rightful place, at the Ice House Street end of the Main Bar.

The photojournalist who took the picture that will forever represent the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 died in September in Bali aged 64.

As a trading hub for wine, Hong Kong has seen the price and volume of Burgundy coming into Asia rocket. The region’s first Master of Wine – who’s an FCC member – has just launched a book on the subject.

The FCC recently sent a message to members to support its representation to the Town Planning Board on the proposed 25-storey hospital and development across the road from the Club.

The Peace Hotel on Shanghai’s Bund has seen it all over 90 years, from glittering guests such as Charlie Chaplin and Noel Coward, to the Gang of Four and Communist officials settling in as the wheels of history turned. Jonathan Sharp went along for birthday celebrations.

Photographs by Vincent Yu from his 1998 book, HKG, and its 20th anniversary edition.

William’s ongoing project, Rain, consists of photographs shot through the water rushing down the windows of Hong Kong trams, during our frequent rainstorms.

Current photographs, Birdy Chu; others from FCC archive and courtesy of SCMP

Not much has changed for years in the way Hong Kong’s courts handle the media, leaving reporters to rely on an unspoken code of sharing any information they can get their hands on.

The latest group of members to join the FCC is, as always, an interesting bunch. The membership committee meets regularly to go through applications and is always impressed by the diversity of people who want to join the club.

Hong Kong-born photojournalist Liu Heung Shing has been described as “The Cartier-Bresson of China” and his beautiful new book, A Life In a Sea of Red, chronicles turbulent points of history in China and Russia.

You browse on Amazon, or in a bookshop. You have shelves of books all over your home, or you have a slim device that carries your entire library. Which one are you? By Sian Powell.

Hong Kong has one of the longest working weeks in the world, but what motivates people to work hard if their career path and pay don’t match expectations? Stephanie Lin reports.

The first two winners of the new Clare Hollingworth Fellowship have been announced as the club pays homage to the memory of one of its most famous members. Morgan M. Davis reports.

Cameraman and journalist Gary Ling Wah-kee passed away on March 25 after a short illness. He was 67.

Marilyn Hood, the FCC’s Marketing Manager, organiser of the Quiz Night and long-time club member, died on April 17 at Queen Mary Hospital after a struggle with cancer.

From his time on pirate Radio Caroline to being the voice that launched Britain’s Classic FM radio station, Nick Bailey’s 50-year career in broadcasting included a decade in Hong Kong. Here he recounts those days with fondness.

The new cocktail menu has arrived at Bert’s. Morgan M. Davis selflessly went along for a tasting.

See images from Tiananmen Square as featured in our On The Wall photo exhibition.

The Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act was passed in Singapore in May. Once signed into law, it will give government ministers sweeping powers to decide which statements are true and which false.

The membership committee meets regularly to go through applications and is always impressed by the diversity of people who want to join the club.

Sue Brattle caught up with new FCC president Jodi Schneider in the Main Bar.

Paul Baran, retired journalist, former FCC member, and champion pool player, has died in Ladysmith, Vancouver Island, Canada, at the age of 69 of brain cancer.

General manager Didier Saugy has made it his mission to reduce the club’s carbon footprint and has launched a series of initiatives towards that goal. Morgan M. Davis talked to him about the FCC going green.

Whether it’s the way a bottle of wine slows down how we eat or feeling wonder at the beauty human beings can create, Master of Wine Jeannie Cho Lee knows we can all learn lessons from wine.

A UK coroner’s inquest has failed to find the cause of the light aircraft accident on July 13, 2017, which claimed the lives of two experienced pilots, including FCC member and Cathay Pacific Deputy Chief Pilot, Paul Gunnell.

See Tim Franco’s six-year photographic documentation of Chongqing’s growing population and massive investment.

Steve Raymer’s long-standing role at the National Geographic magazine has taken him all over the world, as shown by the selection on these pages.

Basil Pao’s exhibition documents his time on the set of Bernardo Bertolucci’s cinematic masterpiece.

Go back two years and the media landscape in Cambodia was very different from the pared-down press corps that covers the country’s news today.

The FCC community turned out in full force – and full fancy dress – on March 16, 2019, for the Charity Fundraiser On Assignment: Yesteryear’s Foreign Correspondent.

As Florence de Changy hands over the baton to a new Club President, she recaps on another eventful term for the FCC.

Around a thousand members took part in a survey canvassing ideas for changes they would like to see at the FCC and the masterplan inspired by their answers is now finished. Simon Pritchard, a member of the Club’s House Building Committee, outlines its key points.

A very warm welcome to our newest members who, as always, are a varied and interesting bunch. If you see them at the bar, say hello.

Two incidents in recent years have seen Finland slip from first to fourth place in the world rankings for freedom of the press. Here FCC member Hannamiina Tanninen takes a look at this “public disgrace”.

Mind HK is helping journalists to approach the topic of mental health in a new way. Olivia Parker reports.

Prostate cancer is among the most common forms of cancer affecting men. Yet confusion and controversy still reign over how best to diagnose and treat the often fatal disease.

A respected former denizen of the FCC Hong Kong and the FCC Japan, Susumu spent two decades covering Asia and its role in global affairs for the Hong Kong-based Far Eastern Economic Review.

War correspondent Derek Maitland on covering Vietnam.

Photos from Leong Ka Tai.

There were some authors wandering around the FCC in early November, taking a break from appearing at this year’s Hong Kong International Literary Festival.

SK Witcher and Florence de Changy receive prestigious honours. Morgan M. Davis tells their stories.

Police shut down an event at the FCC Thailand for the sixth time recently. Michael Mackey was there and reports on the Club’s trials and triumphs.

After 36 years, the Club’s guest book is full, so George W. Russell flicked through the pages to chronicle the passage of visitors.

Best-selling author of Shenzhen Superstars – How China’s smartest city is challenging Silicon Valley gives his tips on successful self-publishing.

No matter your level of expertise, everyone can learn something at the FCC wine dinners this autumn.

Johnny Ma joined the FCC this summer, following the retirement of executive chef George Cheng.

The FCC’s new General Manager reveals some of his plans for the club.

The FCC has adopted K3 as its charity for the next two years, helping refugees and asylum-seekers to get their children into kindergarten – and stay there. Joyce Lau reports.

However much support journalists are given in conflict zones, they are still the ones who come face-to-face with danger on a daily basis. A freelancer and a bureau chief tell The Correspondent how they live with risk.

Take a look at the latest members to join the FCC.

Recap on the FCC’s 3rd Journalism Conference, covering topics from PTSD to investigative reporting.

A reflection on how we struggle to know what to say to someone as they near the end of their life.

The Correspondent spoke to six winners about their work and what winning a Human Rights Press Award means to them.

Illustrations and a clock among items donated by the estate of long-time member Walter Kent, who died in 2016.

Hong Kong director Johnnie To Kei-fung looks back on his 45 years in the film industry.

Anyone interested in taking a plunge, a punt, or at least dipping a toe, in the Japanese property market had best read this book.

George came to the FCC in 2007 after working as second chef at the Hong Kong Football Club for six years.

New laws that critics decry as impeding free speech are making their way to the statute books in record time, writes Jane Moir.

The latest group of members to join the FCC is, as always, an interesting bunch.

Photojournalist Greg Constantine has been documenting the persecution of the stateless Rohingya for more than 12 years.

This exhibition showed studio images taken between 1962 and 1985 in Yangon.

Globetrotting Gaz, a wise man with a taste for what’s good in life.

Morgan’s iconic covers included his still famous image of Li Ka-shing as Superman.

Students present photos of Hong Kong as they see it.

Plan for huge building was presented with no prior discussion with the public, writes John Batten.

Beer quality has improved markedly and we have updated our selection to reflect changing tastes. That means less lager, more draught beer.

Our in-depth report on British peer Lord Paddy Ashdown’s guest appearance in November, where he shared his refreshingly frank views on the US-China relationship and a wide range of other issues.

Better known in photographic circles as Miguelitor, his candid and quirky style of street photography is “locally-grown” and has been inspired by Hong Kong’s street scenes and the people he found in them.

See Hong Kong-born photographer Vincent Yu’s award-winning pictures from North Korea.

In this member profile, Lynn recalls meeting, among many others, Elizabeth Taylor, Gene Hackman, and David Soul who was making a TV series called Harry’s Hong Kong.

Fake news continues to haunt social media sites. Facebook, for one, still struggles despite its well publicised steps to deal with it. 

With a growing number of news organisations pouring additional resources into delivering their content via the big social platforms, the likes of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg appear to hold all the cards.

David Tang had a long connection with the FCC: as a speaker on four occasions from the early 90s; and as a friend to a number of members.

The two journalists were detained in separate incidents by Chinese police in August and managed to alert their employers — and followers — via Twitter about their predicament.

As you would expect there’s a healthy mix of Correspondents, Journalists and Associates – and all have interesting tales to tell – so if you see a new face at the bar, please make them feel welcome.

The book’s dystopian premise offers the author the opportunity to demonstrate his erudition and ability to draw in multiple sources to reinforce the case that globalisation has, in all likelihood, pretty much run its course, writes Gavin Greenwood.

Right from the start, the author of this delightful book about the eternal feud between Britons and Americans over how their common language famously divides them seems to leave little doubt about where his sympathies lie.

Despite its history of almost 150 years, the club’s facilities are providing modern conveniences (including a lift and fast Internet access) combined with the charm of a bygone era, writes Carsten Schael.

He’s the man who explained Hong Kong politics to the average RTHK listener, and of course the co-founder of the Human Rights Press Awards. Annemarie Evans pays tribute to Francis Moriarty as he relocates to his native U.S.

Four years ago photojournalist Richard Dobson realised a long-held ambition to drive his bike from Saigon to Hanoi the hard way, avoiding the busy coastal road and seeing as much of the interior as possible.

China’s harsh brand of media control has served as a role model for its neighbours south of the border where bright spots are hard to find, writes Luke Hunt.

Politicians from both sides of the Atlantic joined with Hong Kong-based rights groups, lawmakers, student leaders and pro-democracy groups in criticising the Hong Kong government, saying the appeals were political decisions.

New cyber security laws in China are making life ever-harder for information-based businesses, particularly foreign journalists operating there. Jane Moir takes a closer look at the impact of the new rules.

We profile the latest members – all have interesting tales to tell – so if you see a new face at the bar, please make them feel welcome.

Photographer, singer and musician Elaine Liu has been an FCC member for almost 20 years, but she might never have dropped in had we not been the Fringe Club’s neighbour.

A new book about journalists who covered World War II chronicles the conflict that shot some newly minted war correspondents to stardom, blitzed the reputation of others, scared the hell out of most, and killed scores.

Club life member, Mark Pinkstone is about to celebrate 50 years working and living in Hong Kong. As Stephen Marshall writes, a lot can happen in a lifetime when you move from Cootamundra to Hong Kong in the wake of the 1967 riots.

Prominent business leader, long-time Hong Kong resident and Chinese citizen Allan Zeman was guest speaker at a Club luncheon where he discussed his views on the political, economic and commercial future of Hong Kong.

September and October see Spanish tapas and German fare as the FCC brings you its popular monthly food and drinks promotions.

The FCC co-organised a lively panel discussion and hosted a gala dinner to help mark the return to Hong Kong of New.Now.Next Media Conference – the flagship event of the Asian-American Journalists’ Association’s Asia Chapter.

George W. Russell offers a roundup of the presentations from guests, major issues covered in the discussion panels, instructive takeaways from workshops and useful feedback from attendees.

Twenty years after the transfer of sovereignty, the expectations and reality of the handover are again in the spotlight. Jane Moir reports on the FCC’s handover debate.

A mix of journalists, correspondents, associates and diplomats – see who the FCC’s newest members are, and buy them a drink at the bar.

The instant-messenger app Sina Weibo has been redefined by media as a bellwether of popular opinion. Martin Choi looks at its influence with a study of a University of Hong Kong project that tracks the censorship of microblogging posts.

Do we really need yet another well-meaning essay about how free speech is a nice thing and we should all have it?

As you would expect there’s a healthy mix of Correspondents and Journalists as well as Diplomats and Associates – and all have interesting tales to tell – so if you see a new face at the bar, please make them feel welcome.

The new snacks will be available from May 8 and offer a tasty selection of bites to share with friends or to simply take the edge off your appetite until moving upstairs for dinner.

After last year’s damning report by the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China (FCCC) on working conditions, not much has changed. Correspondents, journalists and, more importantly, their local staff and sources continue to be harassed, threatened and jailed.

Kerry spoke to club correspondent member Stephen Marshall on his thoughts on post handover Hong Kong, working with Chris Patten and on today’s world of alternative facts and fake news.

In 1997 Hong Kong was facing an uncertain future. Optimists clung to the promise of ‘jam tomorrow’ while pessimists took the first flight out. Twenty years on, realist Keith Richburg, says China’s growing involvement in Hong Kong’s affairs is here to stay, so get used to it.

The one-day programme was packed full of speakers, panel discussions and workshops. An in-depth review of the major topics will be published in the July/August edition of The Correspondent.

The riots and subsequent acts of terrorism that shook Hong Kong for eight months half a century ago remain one of the most unsettling events in the territory’s postwar history.

Allen Youngblood needs no introduction to the members of the FCC. He has been the man behind the music in Bert’s since it first opened in 1999.

The images in this exhibition are excerpts from part two of the series: The Digital Age.

Photographer Matjaz Tančič spoke about his  “3DPRK” project which involves taking 3D portraits of ordinary people as they go about their daily life in North Korea at a club dinner on February 13. He also presented a 20-minute video documentary about the making of this project which took months of negotiation with the Pyongyang authorities. There was also a presentation of his photographs – with 3D lenses provided for the audience. The project exhibition was …

There is one sure way for an individual journalist to make money online: lie through your teeth to an audience that is not interested in facts and welcomes these “alternative” facts as the new gospel: fake news is good news, if it suits you.

It seems that hardly a day passes that individuals using social media and websites in China are restricted, closed down or prosecuted, usually with some variation of “inciting subversion of state power” as the reason. China’s almost blanket control of the country’s Internet – and consequently all forms of public dissent – has become the model for other countries  to emulate for many of the same reasons. The latest of these is the case of …

Journalism as it is conventionally understood – the printed word mediated by a pantheon of reporters and editors, the electronic media often regulated and constrained by law over content and ownership – has been besieged during the past few decades by technology, ideology and costs.

The Journalist and Media Studies Centre and The Correspondent are putting together a programme where students from the JMSC will report on an issue related to journalism and media.

US senators Marco Rubio and Tom Cotton’s bill, which replaces the US-Hong Kong Policy Act of 1992, was updated to reflect the latest political developments in Hong Kong.

If you have some ideas that you want the Board to run with or maybe you would like to give your time and effort to the future of the Club, then you are encouraged to stand for the Board.

The staff, Board, members and guests put on their glad rags and competed in a bunch of drinking and eating games. It wasn’t too competitive as everyone got a prize.

As Hong Kong police officers are jailed for beating an Occupy Central protester, by now, every force on the planet ought to realise that the world is watching, writes Francis Moriarty.

Always the gruff gentleman, Mike could often be found holding up the Main Bar at the end of a late shift sharing his stories and strong opinions with the likes of Greg Torode and the late Walter Kent.

The Semi-Buffet Lunch offers a choice of four main courses accompanied by a wide selection of appetizers, side dishes and desserts.

What sets the China Coast Community apart from other care homes is that it’s the only one dedicated to assisting the English-speaking elderly in Hong Kong.

Times change, as do the locations of press clubs around the world. Here, we look at our reciprocal arrangements with overseas press clubs.

A round-up of the latest incidents involving media organisations around the region.

Forty years on, a new country is emerging. But this nation is born out of the tragic events of that day, which are engraved on every Cambodian’s mind.

A selection of images from the newly released book of the same title.

With the news that Pizza Hut just delivered a pie to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro, setting a new record for high-altitude PR stunts, Andrew Davison recalls his experiences in scaling Africa’s highest peak. The 12-man team had some 50 guides, porters and cooks. In 2014 an old friend came up with the idea of climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. We’ve still no idea what possessed him to come up with this idea, nor what …

Roy Rowan died September 13 in Greenwich, Connecticut, aged 96. His passing was no ordinary event. He was the last of what was once a large band of legendary American journalists who covered the Chinese civil war.

Few writers may be aware of the role of Marilyn Monroe in the fight for freedom of creative expression, or indeed her connection with the opening of a new flank in that fight in Hong Kong.

Chan, who has been a regular speaker at the Club since the 90s when she was Chief Secretary before and after the handover, spoke about what to do with the troubled Legco and the importance of the Legco elections.

Hong Kong’s efforts to reform copyright law towards the US-based “fair-use” treatment of copyright versus the “fair-dealing” approach stall, writes Jonathan Hopfner.

Foreign correspondents have always trod warily around lese majeste, though some of their publications got into strife when they inadvertently did not place a photo of the King at the top of a page, or had someone else’s photo on top of his.

The film ‘A Plastic Ocean’, which will premiere in Hong Kong in October and globally from November, began with the hunt for the elusive blue whale, writes the film’s director and journalist Craig Leeson. In March, 2011, 30 miles off the southern tip of Sri Lanka, a tiny breeze tickles the surface of the Indian Ocean; the heat radiates relentlessly. Three weeks on a 90 metre research vessel has taken its toll: most of the …

Chan set up the Journalism and Media Studies Centre at the University of Hong Kong.

Alison Parker (left) the moment shots ring out during an interview on tourism with Vicki Gardner, the local chamber of commerce director, before she was shot and killed. (AFP screen capture) Following the Nice truck terror attack the French media watchdog, the CSA, issued an appeal for ‘caution’ and ‘restraint’ and the French police called on people to stop uploading images of victims as a sign of respect for them and their families. (CNN screen …

Student activist and founder of the new party Demosistō Joshua Wong says he believes the use of violence will not help Hong Kong achieve a higher level of democracy. Wong, who is Secretary General of Demosistō, was speaking at an FCC lunch on June 27, along with fellow student activist Nathan Law, formerly the secretary general of the Hong Kong Federation of Students and now chairman of Demosistō. Wong said he believes the society should …

By Joyce Lau The Human Rights Press Awards celebrated its 20th birthday at the Maritime Museum on May 6, with a standing-room-only crowd of 170 participants, supporters and guests. For the first time, grand-prize winners were given the chance to speak to the audience directly about their experiences. Several flew in from overseas to do so. Esther Htusan, who recently became the first Burmese to win a Pulitzer Prize, caught a 1:30 a.m. flight from …

Martin Lee, QC, founding chairman of The Democratic Party and former Legco member, has been a regular FCC guest speaker since the early 1990s. Always an articulate straight-shooter and clear thinker, Lee focused on the rise of young democrats at a lunch on June 16. He also wondered why the FCC would you ask one of Hong Kong’s oldest politicians about the future of young democratic politicians Many have doubts about Hong Kong’s young democratic …

With every new FCC Board the conveners of committees often change and renews members’ opportunities for getting involved. If you have some ideas for speakers or other professional events, or are interested in the FCC’s charity events, or F&B, or finance, or the Wall, or press freedom issues; or The Correspondent… then maybe its time for you to join one of the committees or get in touch with the conveners and present your ideas.   …

Facebook has been under attack in recent months by US conservatives – worried that Facebook could influence the outcome of the presidential election – for “suppressing conservative news”. While these claims are somewhat overblown, there is no getting away from the fact that Facebook undoubtedly has tremendous power, with some 200 million Americans spending around 30% of their Internet time on Facebook and its properties (WhatsApp, Instagram). A 2014 study determined that some 340,000 people …

While the release of the Panama Papers rocked governments around the world, it hardly caused a ripple in China, one of the biggest sources of funds for these offshore accounts. China’s clampdown on any news of the leaks has been particularly effective. While the release of the Panama Papers rocked governments around the world, it hardly caused a ripple in China, one of the biggest sources of funds for these offshore accounts. China’s clampdown on …

There was a big and active turnout for the FCC’s Town Hall meeting in early April which focused on budget forecasts and the operating revenue shortfall through the Club’s renovation period and what should be done about it. President Neil Western explained that the Board of Governors was elected to run the Club and its finances, “but given that subscription fees had been frozen for 19 years it was considered prudent to talk to the …

Photos by: HKFP HKFP Editor-in-Chief Tom Grundy has joined with a group of human rights lawyers to file a judicial review against the government in light of its policy of barring online media outlets from government press conferences and press releases. In April, Grundy received an offer of assistance from Hong Kong’s Legal Aid Department, according to an editorial on the HKFP website. He is now seeking to link with interested parties and individuals to …

Hong Kong is a global finance centre, and as such employs a good number of financial journalists. David Webb is not one of them. He is an activist, not a reporter. But he seems to break a lot of stories. Cathy Holcombe reports. When Webb first burst into the watchdog scene, in the late 1990s, I was working on the business desk at the South China Morning Post, and on some days he was quoted …

Sir David Tang gave an amusing, erudite and at times inspirational speech before a full house at the FCC on what has happened to Hong Kong, where it might go and what needs to be done. David Tang fired both barrels at the performance of the Chief Executive CY Leung in his latest policy address as well as his overall leadership qualities. After regaling us with a visiting Martian’s view of the address, Tang called …