The Asian American Journalists Association’s Asia chapter (AAJA-Asia), in partnership with the Hong Kong Journalists Association and Community Business is pleased to invite Hong Kong news professionals and students in journalism to attend the launch of its first Stylebook for Gender-Sensitive Reporting Chinese version at the Breakthrough Centre on Sunday 6 April 2025. The stylebook presentation will feature a panel discussion about the stylebook design and a gender-sensitive reporting workshop led by Community Business. The event will be held in Cantonese.
AAJA-Asia is a nonprofit organization representing a multi-ethnic community of local and international media professionals and students in journalism committed to supporting a vibrant press in the Asia-Pacific region. In 2021, it launched the Advancing News Diversity in Asia (ANDA) project with the objective to define diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) from an Asia perspective and support efforts to improve diversity and representation in newsrooms and news coverage throughout Asia.
AAJA-Asia members believe that it is a mission of journalism to accurately reflect the world, report inequalities, and give a voice to those oppressed or rendered invisible.
Every day, people around the world face discrimination and persecution because of their gender, sexual identity or sexual orientation – yet not all news coverage provides a fair and accurate portrayal of these groups. In news worldwide, women and LGBTQ people are often ignored or misrepresented.
The stylebook for gender-sensitive reporting aims to help Asia’s journalists to portray all genders as equally valued and diverse and better represent our fast-changing world. It has been produced with the support of the Google News Initiative and the contribution of over thirty news professionals and representatives from Women’s and LGBTQ groups from Hong Kong, Indonesia, Philippines, South Korea and Singapore, united by the belief that a review of the language journalists use in their reporting helps them to do their job more effectively. The stylebook will be published in Chinese, English, Indonesian, Korean and Tagalog.
The stylebook’s Cantonese version (available for download here) will be launched by AAJA-Asia in Hong Kong, with the support of the Hong Kong Journalists Association and Community Business, at 2:00 pm, on Sunday 6 April, at the Breakthrough Center. A panel of Hong Kong professionals involved in the stylebook’s design will share their motivations for contributing to this project, the challenges they met and the lessons they learnt from this experience.
The stylebook presentation will be followed by a one-hour practical and interactive gender-sensitive reporting workshop led by Community Business, an Asia based not-for-profit bringing positive change to businesses which leads to positive change throughout society.
Whether you want to make gender your beat or simply need tips to spot how gender is playing out in Hong Kong or beyond, this workshop will take you through the basics of gender-sensitive reporting, from identifying stories to finding sources to thinking about impact and engagement.
EVENT DETAILS
- Date: Sunday 6 April 2025, 2:00 to 3:30 pm
- Venue: Breakthrough Centre, 7/F, 191 Woo Sung Street, Jordan, Kowloon.
- Registration deadline: April 5.
- Tickets: Free event. Limited seats will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis.
- Registration: https://bit.ly/AAJA-Asia_Stylebook-Launch_HK
AGENDA
Please arrive early for registration. The event will start at 2:00 pm sharp.
2:00 – 2:30 pm: Stylebook Presentation and panel
- 2:00 pm: Welcome and introduction of AAJA-Asia by Holly Chik, AAJA-Asia’s Hong Kong subchapter co Vice-President
- 2:05 pm: Presentation of the stylebook project
- 2:10 pm: Panel Discussion: Why do we need a gender-sensitive reporting stylebook – Hong Kong journalists and volunteers involved in the stylebook’s design share their motivations for contributing to this project, the challenges they met and the lessons they learnt from this experience.
- 2:30 pm: Q&A
- 2:45 pm: End of the panel discussion – Networking break
3:00 – 4:00 pm: Gender-Sensitive Reporting Workshop
- 3:00 pm: Gender-Sensitive Reporting Workshop led by Community Business and AAJA-Asia
- 4:00 pm: End of the event
Register here
SPEAKERS
Blake Chan, Programme Associate for the LGBTQ+ team, is dedicated to exploring and improving the diverse culture and issues faced by the LGBTQ+ community around the world. As an individual, he is particularly interested in the intersection of identity, mental health, and media representation. Known for his meticulous nature and critical thinking skills, Blake manages all aspects of the 2025 LGBTQ+ Inclusion Index, including design, implementation, outreach, data collection, and analysis. Fluent in Cantonese and English, he facilitates DE&I workshops while also coordinating the LGBTQ+ mentoring programme. An overachiever since high school, Blake graduated with first-class honours after being accepted one year early into university.
Hilda Poon is a strategic communicator who currently leads the editorial and creative teams at a multinational organization. With a background in journalism and media production, she oversees a team of creatives to develop immersive digital experiences. Her expertise includes advising clients on communication strategies and guiding brand champions to strengthen the mission and values of an organization. As a dedicated member of the LGBT+ network, Hilda actively promotes workplace diversity, equity and inclusion, advocating for a more inclusive professional environment.
Holly Chik is a reporter covering China for the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong. She served on the AAJA-Asia board as the student representative in 2019. She is co-vice-president of AAJA-Asia’s Hong Kong subchapter.
Sarah Chan, as the Programme Associate for LGBTQ+, manages the LGBTQ+ Mentoring Programme at Community Business. Her background includes firsthand experience supporting male and transgender sex workers in Hong Kong during her internship at Midnight Blue. Sarah’s role encompasses curriculum planning, recruitment, session delivery, and participant relationship maintenance within the Mentoring Programme. In addition, Sarah is fluent in English and Native in Cantonese. She is also the co-host of a Cantonese podcast that explores music and film intersections.
Simon Liu, a Hong Kong journalist, has dedicated years of his career to covering LGBTQ+ issues. Through collaboration with NGOs, he published the LGBTQ Media Reference Guide for local media in 2020. Currently, he is an Assignment Editor at Yahoo News.
Register here
With the support of:
About AAJA-Asia
The Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA) is a nonprofit educational and professional organization with more than 1,500 members across the U.S. and Asia. The Asia chapter of AAJA represents members across the Asia-Pacific region. It is a diverse, multi-ethnic community of local and international journalists and media professionals committed to supporting a vibrant press in the Asia-Pacific region. It is committed to advance news diversity in Asia, foster the next generation of journalists, empower journalists from underrepresented communities, strengthen trust in quality journalism and contribute to building more democratic and harmonious societies through fair representation in Asia news. For inquiries, please write to asia@aaja.org
About Community Business
Community Business is a leading not-for-profit (Hong Kong Charity Number 91/6560) committed to promoting diversity, equity and inclusion in companies across Asia. A membership-led organisation, Community Business grounds all its work in research, applying Asia-led insights to interpreting global practices and policies since our foundation in 2003.
About HKJA
The Hong Kong Journalists Association is the largest journalist union in Hong Kong. It is run by working journalists for the sole purpose of improving the working environment for the men and women who gather the news in Hong Kong.
About the Google News Initiative
Google’s mission is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful. The Google News Initiative is our effort to work with the news industry to help journalism thrive in the digital age. The Google News Lab, an initiative under the GNI, was created to support the distribution and creation of the information that keeps us all informed about what’s happening in our world today – quality journalism. Today’s news organizations and media entrepreneurs are inventing new ways to discover, create and distribute news content – and we’re here to provide tools, data, and programs designed to help. For more information, visit g.co/newsinitiative.