On July 17, 2024 Selina Cheng was terminated by The Wall Street Journal after she refused her supervisor’s request to withdraw from an election in Hong Kong’s leading media professional group.

Cheng was told she was fired because of restructuring, but believes that the real reason was her election as chair of the Hong Kong Journalists Association, a trade union for journalists that advocates for press freedom.

Cheng has issued a statement claiming her WSJ supervisor told her that employees of the Journal should not be seen as advocating for press freedom in a place like Hong Kong.

If true, we find this behavior unconscionable.

We call on The Wall Street Journal to restore Cheng to her former position and to provide a full explanation for management’s decision to dismiss her.

The Wall Street Journal should fight for press freedom and stand with journalists, as it is doing by fighting the unjust imprisonment of WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovich in Russia.

In the United States and in Canada it is illegal to discriminate or terminate an employee for showing support for a union. Unfortunately because Cheng is overseas, she can’t be represented by the Independent Association of Publishers' Employees, a local union of The NewsGuild-CWA. However, IAPE and NewsGuild members stand with Selina Cheng.