Sharon Cheung (, ) is a

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

-based journalist and entrepreneur. She graduated from the

Chinese University of Hong Kong The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) is a public research university in Ma Liu Shui, Hong Kong, formally established in 1963 by a charter granted by the Legislative Council of Hong Kong. It is the territory's second-oldest university and ...

in 1995. She worked for the '' South China Morning Post'' from 1995 through 1998 and '' Hong Kong Cable Television News'' and ''

Radio Television Hong Kong Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) is the public broadcasting service in Hong Kong. GOW, the predecessor to RTHK, was established in 1928 as the first broadcasting service in Hong Kong. As a government department under the Commerce and Econo ...

'' thereafter. She received the Outstanding Performance Award from the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2003. According to an interview conducted by the

's ''The Varsity'' newspaper in April 2004, Cheung aspired to be a journalist since watching televised footage of the

1989 Tiananmen Square protests The Tiananmen Square protests, known in Chinese as the June Fourth Incident (), were student-led demonstrations held in Tiananmen Square, Beijing during 1989. In what is known as the Tiananmen Square Massacre, or in Chinese the June Fourth ...

of June 4, 1989. Sharon is quoted as saying “I was impressed by the hero who stood in front of the tanks, bravely striving for

democracy Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which people, the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation ("direct democracy"), or to choo ...

.” On October 27, 2000, Cheung interviewed then- Communist Party General Secretary of China

Jiang Zemin Jiang Zemin (17 August 1926 – 30 November 2022) was a Chinese politician who served as general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 1989 to 2002, as chairman of the Central Military Commission from 1989 to 2004, and as pr ...

. In this interview, after Jiang said he supported

Tung Chee-hwa Tung Chee-hwa (; born 7 July 1937) is a Hong Kong businessman and politician who served as the first Chief Executive of Hong Kong between 1997 and 2005, upon the transfer of sovereignty on 1 July. He is currently a vice-chairman of the Chin ...

, Cheung questioned whether Jiang Zemin had appointed Tung in the election, which made Jiang Zemin angry and then denounced her and the

Media of Hong Kong Hong Kong's media consists of several different types of communications of mass media: television, radio, cinema, newspapers, magazines, websites and other online platforms. Overview Hong Kong is home to many of Asia's biggest media entities ...

as "too simple, sometimes naïve" The interview went viral and made her become famous, and has been dubbed as one of the three foundational works ( zh, s=蛤三篇, l=Three pieces about the Toad) of the Chinese internet subculture of "

Toad Worship Moha ( zh, c=, p=Mó Há, ), literally "admiring toad" or "toad worship", is an internet meme spoofing Jiang Zemin, former General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party and paramount leader. It originated among the netizens in mainland ...

"."Toad" (; ) is a nickname for Jiang Zemin, who is said to visually resemble a toad. In May 2015, she set up the Lion Rock Spirit Fellowship for journalists from Hong Kong to pursue the

Reuters Institute The Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism (RISJ) is a UK-based research centre and think tank founded in 2006, which operates Thomson Reuters Journalism Fellowship Programme, also known as the Reuters Fellowship. History The institute ...

's Journalism Fellowship Programme at the University of Oxford. Sharon Cheung went on to be a senior vice president of

Media Asia Entertainment Group Media Asia Entertainment Group (), Media Asia Group (, ), is a Hong Kong production company and film distributor for films made in Hong Kong and throughout China. It is a subsidiary of Lai Sun Development Company Ltd. History Headquartered ...

, and is now teaching

journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the " news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word, a noun, applies to the occupation (pro ...

at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. She advocates for press freedom in China and Hong Kong. In a 2004 interview, Cheung said “the mainland government sees the

media Media may refer to: Communication * Media (communication), tools used to deliver information or data ** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising ** Broadcast media, communications delivered over mass e ...

as a propaganda tool, to promote its views. However, the Hong Kong government considers the media to be watchdogs that supervise what the government does.” Cheung is now an entrepreneur and works to advise firms on their new media strategies.

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Sharon's Patreon Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cheung, Sharon Hong Kong journalists Chinese University of Hong Kong people Year of birth missing (living people) Living people

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