Skip to main content

Yahoo Hong Kong Scales Back the News

The Chinese-language news outlet, just five years into original journalism, is retreating to autopilot as most of its staff are dismissed by month’s end.

In a move management was careful to call a “downsize” and not a shutdown, Yahoo Hong Kong announced on March 17 that it would sharply scale back its news and finance operations beginning on April 1. The platform, which runs Chinese-language news, said it would dismiss an estimated two-thirds of its 30 to 40 full-time staff by the end of the month. In a transition period lasting through June, the announcement said, a skeleton crew would maintain the homepage. 

The cutbacks bear echoes of Yahoo’s actions in Singapore two years ago, when it laid off all of its journalists working on the editorial and social media teams. In Hong Kong, with no editorial team left to commission stories, curate coverage or produce video, the portal will effectively become a news aggregator only — running on autopilot. The timing of the cuts is also noteworthy. It was only in 2021, amid the implementation of Hong Kong’s national security law, and as a serious news gap was left by the shutdown of Apple Daily (蘋果日報) and Stand News (立場新聞), that Yahoo Hong Kong started producing original journalism. 

Dalia Parete is a researcher for the China Media Project and coordinates data and mapping for Lingua Sinica, CMP’s online resource on Chinese-language media globally. She studies PRC efforts to influence media integrity across local contexts. Having worked at EUISS in Paris and at RUSI and IISS in London, she also specializes in Chinese foreign policy and Taiwan studies. She holds a master’s degree from SOAS (China and International Politics) and LSE (International Relations).

Country and Regional Context

BACK TO MAP