HKFP Reader Survey 2026 results

HKFP wishes to thank readers who took part in our 2026 Reader Survey. We received 122 responses – each of which will help us shape and prioritise our news coverage, and guide how we invest our limited resources. See also: HKFP’s 11th anniversary: Surge in membership and awards haul, but tax scrutiny expands to staff Impartiality rating HKFP strives for impartiality as a member of the Trust Project and Journalism Trust Initiative. Most of our survey respondents believe we are succeeding, with 77.8 per cent giving our reporting a rating of eight or higher, with ten being the most fair, balanced and impartial. Context Our three reader surveys over the past eight years reveal that respondents believe HKFP is doing increasingly well in explaining the news. In our 2018 survey, 82.1 per cent of readers said HKFP did enough to contextualise the news, compared to 86.7 per cent in 2024 and 91.4 per in the latest survey. HKFP’s focus Balance of content An increasing number of survey respondents would like to see a further investment in original reporting. However, like in our 2024 survey, the majority remain happy with our balance of daily reporting and features. Reasons to support HKFP Of those who have supported HKFP directly, most survey respondents are backing our team out of concern for press freedom in the city. Concerns over the state of the English-language news landscape comes a close second as a reason to contribute, followed by those who donate to support our original reporting. Reader awareness Donors surveyed Future directions Podcast revival Other sources Aside from HKFP, the news outlet survey respondents relied on the most is the SCMP. State-backed China Daily, however, was least favoured. Survey respondents Support our team Become a member with a HK$1,200+ yearly donation. Make a one-off donation. Donate instantly by card or PayPal. We accept most cards and PayPal – unlock benefits as a HK$150/month donor here. One-off, monthly or annual donations accepted. Donate via Patreon. Support us with a one-off or regular contribution by signing up at: patreon.com/HongKongFreePressHKFP. Donate by cheque. One-off HK$ cheques save us on fees. Please make them payable to Hong Kong Free Press Limited. Please include your name and address for accounting purposes. And send to: Hong Kong Free Press, The Hive Kennedy Town, 6/F, Cheung Hing Industrial Building, 12P Smithfield Road, Kennedy Town, Hong Kong. [Please do not send cash.] Donate by Octopus. Scan our QR code in your Octopus app to make a one-off donation. Donate by HSBC PayMe. Scan our QR code in your HSBC PayMe app to make a one-off donation. Please include your name and email in the ‘comment’ field for accounting purposes. Donate coins via Coin Dragon. Got a big jar or bag of coins at home? Contribute leftover 10c, 20c, 50c, HK$1, HK$2 and HK$5 coins to HKFP at Coin Dragon machines across the city. Just select Hong Kong Free Press from the list of non-profits. Donate by cash, FPS or bank transfer. We welcome donations into our HSBC account but request – for accounting reasons – that supporters contact us in advance their name and sum they wish to contribute. Thank you! Leave a gift by will. Include a bequest provision for HKFP in your will or revocable trust. As a one-off gift, it will not be taxable. Simply state the sum you wish to share – or state it as a percentage of your estate – to the legal person of Hong Kong Free Press Limited. Our Unique Business Identifier is 64435978. (Should HKFP ever cease operations, all assets and funds will be transferred to a similar independent newsroom.) Donations-in-kind: Donate gear or sponsor us. We welcome donations of new computer or audio-visual gear, or sponsorship of our running costs. PackageNewsroom expenseAnnual costASponsor all web hosting, tech support, domain.HK$140,727BBoost HKFP’s video output by enabling access to AFP news wire video clips.HK$20,000CSponsor all AFP news wire service, including text and photos.HK$40,000DCover the cost of HKFP’s newsroom/office at The Hive co-working space.HK$360,000ETake on the cost of our Quickbooks accounting software.HK$2,322FSponsor our Mailchimp newsletter software.HK$10,710GSponsor health insurance for all staff.HK$200,000HCover our Google work apps costs.HK$20,307ISponsor a desk reporter for a year (inc. salary, MPF, insurance).HK$300,000More info here. HKFP also welcomes assistance in updating news-gathering equipment and gear – contact us for details. Please get in touch if you wish to support us indirectly – here is an idea of items you could support. Advertise with us, or sponsor a section. HKFP reaches a highly engaged audience across our website, eight different social platforms and two newsletters. View our latest rate card for an overview of our impact, audience and partnership options. HKFP’s previous advertising partners. Spread the word. Help us grow – share our support page, invite friends to donate or follow us on social media. We are on Facebook, Bluesky, X, LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram, Mastodon, and Threads. Why support us? 1. Fully independent – no billionaires, conglomerates or governments. HKFP is not owned by any billionaire tycoon or conglomerate, controlled or funded by any government, nor answerable to any shareholders. We are 100 per cent independent in terms of our structure, finances and editorial output. HKFP has never been beholden to powerful elites or funders. This means our reporting cannot be influenced by others, and that all decisions are made among the team in-house. Our independence is essential for maintaining the trust of our readers, and for holding those with power to account without interference. 2. Non-profit – answerable to Hongkongers, not shareholders. Our work has no commercial motive. HKFP seeks to raise enough money to power our newsroom and fulfil our mission. Any funds left over at the end of the year are carried forward to be used in the future. If we experience a deficit, savings from previous years are used to fill the gap. Examine our income and spending here. For-profit news outlets can suffer from bias, sensationalism and poor trust, as they prioritise stories which generate clicks and revenue, rather than providing a public service for readers. When an outlet becomes reliant on maximising profit, advertising and business interests can conflict with editorial and ethical considerations. 3. Proudly reader-funded – backed by 1,000 monthly supporters. 94 per cent of HKFP’s income comes directly from our readers, ensuring our press freedom and independence. The rest is from advertising, content sales, and licensing. HKFP does not rely on governments, umbrella companies or billionaire backers. Instead, over 1,000 monthly donors donate an average of HK$200 to help sustain our newsroom – the best situation for our press freedom. Just 0.3 per cent of regular readers are HKFP Members – consider joining us! 4. Hong Kong’s most transparent news outlet. HKFP is the most transparent news outlet in Hong Kong, if not Asia. We are externally audited every year, and anyone can examine our income and spending since 2015 – the year of our inception. 5. Governed by a comprehensive Ethics Code. We publish our Policies, Ethics & Best Practices as part of HKFP’s commitment to credible, ethical, and independent journalism. These ever-evolving policies underpin all of our reporting practices. They govern how we deal with certain topics, like elections; a host of issues like race, disability or hate speech; as well as how we use certain tools, like AI, or undercover reporting. They guide how we deal with accuracy, anonymity, complaints, sourcing and paid-for content, and include a staff code of conduct. The comprehensive code is backed by the Trust Project and Journalism Trust Initiative. 6. Efficiently run – we make every cent count. HKFP is run as efficiently and prudently as possible, in order to maximise the impact of our donors’ generosity. We make savings by partnering with other media outlets, using free software/tools, and making full use of teamwork and automation. We do not employ marketing staff, donation managers, or social media editors – every employee is primarily a journalist. In light of a years-long deficit, in 2024-25, HKFP slashed costs by switching insurers and merch store suppliers, downgrading software packages, adjusting staff transport allowances, finding sponsors for key costs, moving to a smaller office and halting most advertising. We make every cent matter, and we disclose our spending annually. 7. Home to multi-award-winning journalism. HKFP has been nominated for, or won, multiple awards over the years – including from the Human Rights Press Awards, the Hong Kong Press Photographers Association, and the Society of Publishers in Asia. In 2021, our newsroom was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. In 2024, we were nominated for an International Press Institute Free Media Pioneer award, as well as a Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Prize. 8. No paywalls – accessible to everyone, everywhere. Our daily reporting will always be paywall-free – we believe our journalism should be free and accessible to everyone. We ensure our news is available wherever your are: on Facebook, Bluesky, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram, Threads, Flipboard, Apple News, MSN, Factiva, LexisNexis, ProQuest, Telegram (or add our bot: @hkfp_bot) and through our Android and Apple phone apps. 9. Investing in original reporting. Since our early years, we have quadrupled the number of original features, interviews and explainers published annually. With over 30,000 stories published, HKFP invests in original, award-winning reporting. 10. Facing up to harassment, intimidation and government scrutiny. Hong Kong has seen journalists jailed, newsrooms raided, and media outlets disbanded as the city plummets in press freedom indices. HKFP has not been immune. We have seen cyberattacks, threats, visa trouble, intimidation, harassment, physical attacks, surveillance, censorship in China, false complaints, media bans, a columnist fleeing, government inspections, and more than our fair share of pepper spray and tear gas. Help protect what remains by supporting non-establishment media at this critical time. 11. Trusted reporting you won’t find elsewhere. By definition, our trusted journalism may sometimes be unwelcome by those in power. Whether it’s reporting on the trials of the 47 democrats, Jimmy Lai or the Stand News editors; rounding up the latest national security arrests; covering the 2019 protests from the frontlines; or providing comprehensive reporting on the Tiananmen crackdown anniversary, HKFP does not shy away when others retreat. Owing to the lack of independence and ownership issues among fellow news outlets, and given the press freedom situation and dwindling number of newsrooms, HKFP is one of the few trusted sources of news left in the city. 12. Serving Hong Kong’s minorities, as a voice of the voiceless. HKFP ensures a special focus on sexual, ethnic and religious minorities, and offers trusted coverage of the city’s domestic worker and migrant communities. As an English-language outlet, we also serve the minority who do not read Chinese. We exist to offer a voice to the voiceless and to hold the powerful to account. In 2022, our original reporting on the city’s underrepresented communities won us backing from Google’s News Equity Fund. 13. Part of the Trust Project network. In 2023, we gained the Trust Project hallmark – the first global transparency standard that proves a news outlet’s commitment to original reporting, accuracy, inclusion, and fairness. As part of their external audit, we publicly disclosed and expanded our ethical policies, standards, reporting and corrections guidelines to adhere to the eight Trust Indicators. The Trust Project seeks to improve media literacy and battle “fake news,” misinformation and online propaganda. We now join around 300 newsrooms across the world displaying the Trust Mark symbol, including the BBC, The Washington Post, Sky News, CTV and The Economist. 14. The city’s only Journalism Trust Initiative member. In 2025, HKFP became Hong Kong’s only accredited member of the Journalism Trust Initiative following a months-long external audit. The project is an ISO standard and an international mechanism rewarding ethical journalistic practices. The standard involved examining HKFP against 130 criteria, and was developed by a panel of 130 experts, including journalists, institutions, regulatory bodies, publishers, and new technology players. 15. 100% NewsGuard rating: Meeting all 9 credibility and transparency criteria. HKFP meets all nine of the NewsGuard initiative’s credibility and transparency criteria. NewsGuard lists green or red credibility scores for over 6,000 news sites, with assessments carried out by humans, not algorithms. Our 100 per cent rating reflects that we avoid false content, publish information responsibility, correct errors, label opinion and ads, avoid deceptive headlines, disclose ownership, financing and conflicts, and provide biographical information on writers. 16. Media watchdog Ad Fontes Media rates HKFP highly, above SCMP. We have been rated by Ad Fontes Media experts as providing reliable, factual reporting from a politically neutral perspective. HKFP scored 43.20 in terms of reliability and news value, similar to NPR, The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg, and slightly above Sky News, The Economist and the local South China Morning Post. HKFP is among the most politically balanced news outlets in the world, according to the watchdog’s rating. With a score of 0.24 – meaning “middle” in terms of bias – HKFP is comparable to outlets such as Sky News. 17. Society of Publishers in Asia and Int’l Press Institute members. We are proud members of the International Press Institute, a 73-year-old global organisation dedicated to protecting press freedom and improving journalistic practice. HKFP is also part of the Society of Publishers in Asia, founded in 1982 to champion press freedom and promote excellence. 18. A clear corrections policy – with all errors fixed and logged. Our Corrections Policy ensures accuracy and accountability across HKFP’s work, with the date, time and details of any correction appearing clearly at the bottom of articles. We also maintain a log of every correction made to ensure we are as transparent as possible. 19. HKFP sets standards in the workplace. We are signed up to Oxfam’s Living Wage initiative to ensure fair pay for all staff, including interns. Our newsroom offers a wage in line with international news outlets, including a health care plan, mental health support and other benefits. In 2020, we enacted a Freelance Charter to set out fair terms and conditions for external contributors. 20. Our journalism has been cited worldwide. Our impact is not just measured through clicks – HKFP’s journalism has been cited in countless news reports, as well as by NGOs and governments. Our reporting has been referenced by everyone from The New York Times, to The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, the BBC, The Guardian, Reuters and others. 21. We ensure diversity – in our newsroom and in our coverage. HKFP values inclusion and diversity – both in the newsroom and in our output – as part of our adherence to fair, balanced and accurate coverage. We amplify voices from underrepresented, underprivileged or marginalised groups, and our team seeks to balance opinions from different age groups, genders and ethnic backgrounds. As part of our Diversity Statement, we have no tolerance for discrimination, prejudice or bullying and encourage job applications from candidates from minority backgrounds. 22. Boots on the ground and here to stay. HKFP remains in Hong Kong as we can speak to Hongkongers, monitor the legislature, ask tough questions of officials, attend press events, and bear witness at court during key cases. For now, it is better to have boots on the ground than attempt to report on the city from afar. Whilst the press freedom situation may be more predictable abroad, we can ensure better accuracy and nuance by staying put and navigating the situation. 23. Safeguarding press freedom. In 2016, we helped to successfully lobby the government to recognise digital media and allow online journalists into press conferences. In 2021, we distributed a free, open-source fundraising platform for the industry. And in 2023, HKFP launched an anti-censorship version of our news app. Over the years, we have also launched Ombudsman complaints to protect journalists’ access to press events, and co-signed several local and international statements to promote press freedom. 24. HKFP Members enjoy eight new benefits. Donate monthly or yearly to unlock HKFP member benefits. Members receive an HKFP deer keyring or tote, exclusive Tim Hamlett columns, feature previews, “behind the scenes” insights, early access to our Annual Report, ad-free browsing, merch drops and discounts, and full access to our HKFP Monitor newsletter. 25. We accept most payment methods – it’s easier than ever to donate. It couldn’t be easier to support us – HKFP accepts Mastercard, Visa, Amex, JCB, UnionPay, PayMe, Octopus, FPS bank transfers, Apple Pay, Google Pay and cheques. You can also donate cash at CoinDragon kiosks, back us with a Patreon membership, advertise with HKFP, provide donations-in-kind or just help us spread the word. Safeguard press freedom; keep HKFP free for all readers by supporting our team Support HKFP | Policies & Ethics | Error/typo? | Contact | Newsletter | Transparency & Annual Report | Apps Make a one-off donation. Founded in 2015, Hong Kong Free Press is an impartial, non-profit, award-winning English-language newspaper. Run by journalists, backed by readers and 100% independent, HKFP is governed by a public Code of Ethics. If there are uncertainties relating to safety or security, we may use an "HKFP Staff" byline. More on our Ethics & Policies. More by Hong Kong Free Press