Back to normal? journalistic paradigm repair on the fall of oppositional media in post-national security law Hong Kong

Abstract

In journalism, paradigm repair refers to the discursive strategy of news institutions to remedy the institutional image and re-assert professionalism amid the occurrence of deviant events. It works by discursively isolating the deviant journalists and practices thereby shielding the entire institution from criticism. Extant literature on journalistic paradigm repair mainly focused on unprofessional and unethical problems but seldom addressed the political deviance of journalism. Focusing on Hong Kong, this study examined the paradigm repair on the fall of the iconic oppositional media Apple Daily after the promulgation of the national security law in 2020. Findings suggest that the mainstream press has joined hands in denouncing the political deviance of Apple Daily. Despite this dominant metajournalistic discourse, the liberal press and the pro-government press also engaged in discursive contestation over their (re)construction of the proper journalistic paradigm of Hong Kong. While the former attempted to defend a non-politicized liberal-professional paradigm, the latter seized on the discursive opportunity to articulate an authoritarian-leaning model of journalism that propagates a thin conception of the rule of law and the collaborative role of supporting the government, aligning with the city’s autocratization. The theoretical and contextual implications of the study will be discussed.