Hierarchy of Influences on Press in a “Partly Free” Society: Dismantling Journalistic Autonomy

This study used the hierarchy of influences model to explain the control of the state over the newsroom in a partly free society of Hong Kong during the anti-extradition movement. We interviewed 20 reporters, who work as leading journalists or editorial managers in 9 influential media houses in Hong Kong. Previous studies have used the political economy perspective to analyze the autonomy of Hong Kong media and treated self-censorship as an influential practice. By contrast, this paper has shown how the influence of the state, political actors, media owners, advertisers, and the audience have aligned to undercut journalistic professionalism and autonomy. This paper contributes to the literature by demonstrating the effectiveness of the model in illustrating how political control has been exercised from the macro- to the micro-level.