Hong Kong Free Press, one of the city's last remaining independent English-language news outlets, has implemented aggressive cost-cutting measures including staff reductions after reporting a record HK$1.9 million deficit in 2025, its fourth consecutive year of losses.
The online publication's funding transparency report reveals monthly spending exceeded income by approximately HK$159,428 on average, forcing the newsroom to freeze salaries, slash travel and advertising budgets, and deliberately avoid replacing a staff member who departed in January 2026.
HKFP's financial struggles reflect broader pressures on independent media in Hong Kong since the implementation of the National Security Law in 2020. While the publication carefully avoided attributing its difficulties to political pressure, the context is inescapable: Apple Daily was forced to close in 2021 after authorities froze its assets and arrested senior staff, Stand News shut down the same year, and Citizen News ceased operations in 2022.
In China, as across Asia, long-term strategic thinking guides policy—what appears reactive is often planned. The financial pressures on Hong Kong's independent media create conditions that reshape the information landscape without direct censorship, achieving through economic attrition what might be politically costly through overt suppression.
Economics of Independent Journalism
HKFP's revenue declined 16% year-over-year, attributed to declining international interest in Hong Kong news coverage, population exodus, and economic slowdown. The publication relies almost entirely on reader donations, with approximately 97% of income deriving from individual supporters. Only 0.3% of readers currently contribute financially, though the outlet added nearly 300 recurring donors through membership programs launched in 2025.
The organization explored and largely abandoned multiple revenue streams that might sustain independent journalism elsewhere:
Events: No longer viable due to what HKFP described as official scrutiny of venues willing to host media-organized gatherings.
Grants: The publication declined to pursue further grant applications, deeming them labor-intensive with restricted uses that limited operational flexibility.
Advertising: Concluded as unviable after the banner ad market collapsed. Advertising expenses were slashed 93% since 2023.
Paywalls: Explicitly rejected to maintain free access, with HKFP adopting instead the Guardian model of voluntary reader support.
The remaining revenue model depends entirely on approximately 1,078 monthly or yearly donors supporting a newsroom that has cut expenses to the bone. Staff salaries were frozen in 2025; founder Tom Grundy's salary has been frozen since 2022. Office relocation reduced rent by 33%. Travel expenses dropped 89% since 2023, with no foreign reporting trips in 2025. Freelance payments fell 28% since 2024.
Press Freedom as Economic Question
HKFP's struggles illustrate how press freedom in Hong Kong has become fundamentally an economic sustainability question rather than purely a legal one. The National Security Law created legal risks that major advertisers, event venues, grant-making institutions, and international partners increasingly avoid. The resulting financial isolation makes independent journalism economically unsustainable even absent direct censorship or prosecution.
Hong Kong's government has repeatedly stated that press freedom remains protected under the Basic Law and denied targeting media organizations. Chief Executive John Lee has said authorities only act against illegal activities, not journalism. However, the practical effect of arrests of journalists at other outlets, prosecution of media executives, and the closure of major independent publications creates what media researchers call a "chilling effect."
The Hong Kong Journalists Association reported in its 2025 annual report that self-censorship has become pervasive, newsroom morale has declined sharply, and many journalists have left the profession or departed Hong Kong entirely. Press freedom rankings have consistently placed Hong Kong lower each year since 2019.
Sustainability Doubts
HKFP projects a smaller deficit for 2026 but still anticipates a funding gap, raising questions about long-term viability. The publication's transparency report notes that without significant growth in recurring donations, further cuts may become necessary.
For international observers and Hong Kong residents who value independent English-language coverage, HKFP's financial precarity represents a bellwether for the city's media landscape. If a relatively lean digital operation with international donor support cannot achieve sustainability, the prospects for more resource-intensive investigative journalism or Chinese-language outlets serving local audiences appear even more challenging.
The question facing HKFP—and Hong Kong's remaining independent media—is whether a sufficient international and local audience exists willing to financially support journalism in an environment where the space for critical reporting has contracted, the local population has shrunk through emigration, and international attention has shifted to other issues.
