FactWire shuts due to 'great change' in HK media environment

Investigative news organisation FactWire has become Hong Kong's latest media company to shutter last Friday, following the shutdown of local pro-democracy media companies under the National Security Law. In a statement on its website, FactWire said it ceased operations on 10 June, all staff will be dismissed in accordance with pre-established procedures and all monthly subscriptions will also be suspended on the same day.

Instead of explaining exactly why the company terminated its service, the statement said: “In recent years, the media has contended with great change. Despite having wrestled many times with the difficult decision as to whether to continue our journalistic work, we had always come to the same affirmative conclusion: to stand fast to our core values and beliefs, and to always report the facts.”The news outlet continued: “But to everything there is a season and a time to every purpose. It has, at last, come time to end our journey.”

According to statistics from Meltwater, the termination announcement of FactWire has drawn an overwhelming 44% negative sentiments across Twitter and forums, with a total of 922 mentions over the past few days. 

Meanwhile, CARMA's data said the termination announcement of FactWire had drawn mixed sentiments over social platforms. "Most results and engagements were generated on Twitter. In terms of sentiment, we are seeing 19.5% positive mentions and 12% negative mentions over the last seven days," said Charles Cheung, GM of CARMA.

FactWire also expressed its gratitude to all supporters in its statement as well as those who offered their criticism and scrutiny who motivated them to become better journalists, “We were bold. We encountered obstacles. We overcame them. Once or twice, we lost our way. But every step we took, we took in the hope of honestly earning the trust of our readers. We hope we did," the company said.

Founded in 2015 with the support of 3,300 Hongkongers, the establishment of the FactWire News Agency was "a remarkable feat, and a dream come true", as described in the statement. "For the past six years, we have done our best to keep this publicly-funded investigative news agency afloat in Hong Kong, whilst adhering to the highest standards of journalistic integrity. Through the ups and downs, we have always kept our mission – and our principles – near and dear to our hearts." the company added in its statement.

This was the fourth incident after two renowned media firms, Apple Daily and Stand News, closed last year after management team leaders were arrested and company assets were frozen under the security law. A week after Stand News shuttered, Citizen News, an online outlet founded by veteran reporters, also shut its operations, saying it "no longer [feels] safe to work."

One of FactWire's recent stories revealed the background and pro-establishment connections of the two sons of Hong Kong's next chief executive John Lee. FactWire discovered that his two sons have worked with some members of the Electoral Committee, which his eldest son lee man lung is the CEO officer at Hang Seng Bank, and he reports to Diana Cesar, CEO of Hang Seng Bank and member of finance sector of Electoral Committee. 

Meanwhile on 4 May, FactWire issued an apology on Facebook after hackers obtained the email addresses and user names of over 3,000 newsletter subscribers. It is unclear if the company's shutdown was related to the hack.

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