Club Screening – The Fourth Estate: A Screening of The Post with U.S. Consul General Kurt Tong in Honour of World Press Freedom Day

The FCC invites you to a free screening of The Post – the Steven Spielberg film starring Meryl Streep as Washington Post publisher Katherine Graham – and a brief panel discussion on the state of press freedom in the region, together with Keith Richburg, a former Post correspondent and now director of Hong Kong University’s journalism school.

As we mark Press Freedom Day on May 3, the media is under increasing attack across Asia, creating one of the most restrictive environments for journalists in recent memory. In recent times, critical newspapers have been closed, reporters have been charged with crimes for simply doing their jobs, and leaders routinely cry “fake news” to undermine stories that speak truth to power.

Our panel discussed the threats to press freedom and the impact on free societies around the globe, ahead of the screening of The Post which has won rave reviews for its portrayal of the publication of the Pentagon Papers, a landmark in journalistic history and a powerful and timely reminder of the importance of the free press.

Kurt W. Tong is the Consul General representing the United States to Hong Kong and Macau. Mr. Tong has been a diplomat since 1990, spending much of his career in Asia.

Keith Richburg is a journalist and former China correspondent who spent more than thirty years overseas for The Washington Post, serving as bureau chief in Paris, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Nairobi, and Manila.