HK Magazine was a free English-language alternative weekly published by HK Magazine Media Group in Hong Kong. Launched in 1991, it offered coverage of local affairs, social issues as well as entertainment listings. The 1000th issue was published in 2013, the same year that it was sold to the South China Morning Post (SCMP) group. The magazine printed its final issue on 7 October 2016. This was the third SCMP subsidiary to close since the takeover of the newspaper by the Alibaba Group.
History
HK Magazine was founded by best friends Greg Duncan, Stephen Freeman and Gretchen Worth. In 1989, considering Hong Kong a suitable place to start a magazine, they decided to establish an English-language publication.
The first issue, called HK: the indispensable Hong Kong Guide, was published in June 1991 by the local private company Asia City Publishing Limited. It had 24 pages and claimed a circulation of 15,000. It continued to publish on a monthly basis until November 1992, when because of the ambiguity of the name and the change of the publisher's schedule, the magazine was renamed HK Magazine, and switched to a bi-weekly schedule for the next three years.
In September 1995, it became a weekly magazine. SCMP's decision to discontinue the publication has been viewed as part of a wider effort under Alibaba management to shift focus away from Hong Kong and onto mainland China, and to market that coverage to western readers overseas. It has been noted that the Post, once famed for pursuing stories banned in mainland China, has become "markedly less critical of Beijing" in recent years.
Zach Hines, who worked at the magazine from 2005–2015 (serving as editor-in-chief from 2008), wrote of the closure:
<blockquote>"The South China Morning Post purchased us at the right time, and for sensible reasons. The media landscape was changing dramatically, as it continues to do, and their ownership bought us a few final years of life. But, like “One Country, Two Systems,” this odd and uncomfortable marriage was never going to last.
To be a truly independent press, you cannot be beholden to anyone except your readers. But, to my great dismay, this is becoming an increasing impossibility in Hong Kong, in both the mainstream Chinese and much-smaller English media. The SCMP itself is now owned by Alibaba, perhaps the biggest pro-China organization in the world, if you don’t count the Communist Party. The paper’s business interests are also drifting away from Hong Kong, and toward readers in the United States and the rest of the west. HK Magazine is a canary in the coal mine. [...]
As this sad end to HK Magazine shows, it is clear that it is time now for someone else to step up and provide an alternative voice for Hong Kong. If you care about free speech and the liberal values that make Hong Kong what it is, say something about it. Do something about it. Support independent outlets like Hong Kong Free Press and FactWire. You have a voice. Use it. Or you will surely lose it."</blockquote>
Initially SCMP stated that the HK Magazine website would be deleted from the internet.
Following the negative reaction SCMP stated that HK Magazine content would be migrated to the South China Morning Post website before the HK Magazine website was deleted. Additionally, Hong Kong data scientist Mart van de Ven launched a public appeal to help archive back issues of the magazine, expressing doubt that SCMP would preserve the full archive. He found that he was unable to access issue 1,103, which featured Leung Chun-ying on the cover.