Press freedom; and cash for public housing queuers

8:30am-9:15am: press freedom

8:30am-9:00am: Mark Pinkstone, former government chief information officer

8:30am-9:15am: CK Lau, Head, Department of Journalism, Baptist University

8:30am-9:15am: Grace Leung, Lecturer, School of Journalism and Communication, Chinese University of Hong Kong

9:15am-9:30am: cash for public housing queuers

9:15am-9:30am: Vera Yuen, Lecturer, Faculty of Business and Economics, University of Hong Kong

Hundreds of police officers raided Apple Daily’s office on Thursday. The editor and four other directors of the media group were arrested. Two of them have been charged with the offence of colluding with a foreign country or external elements to endanger national security.

The raid was the second in less than a year. Police said their operation and arrest were linked to newspaper articles allegedly calling for foreign sanctions. Officers did not disclose any details about the articles, but warned the public they could face prosecution for sharing them on social media. John Lee said ordinary journalists “should cut ties with these criminals before it's too late to repent”.

Is the raid and prosecution a threat to a free press here? Do you agree that authorities are selectively using the national security law to arbitrarily target independent media organisations? Will it encourage self-censorship? Or should journalists feel safe if they just report facts? What do you make of the different fates of RTHK and Ta Kung Pao journalists in court for identical offences?

From 9:15am-9:30am, we’re discussing cash handouts for housing queuers. The government will give out up to HK$3,900 a month to families who have been waiting for public housing for more than three years. But individual applicants can only apply if they are elderly. What do you think?