A student journalist who captured an important demonstration scene last year said he would carry on reporting at protest sites amid changes in the police’s definition of media to bar them.

The student, who gave his name only as A, was a reporter with the City University Student Union’s Editorial Board. He was one of only a few people who were at the scene when police fired a live round at a protester, injuring his lungs, in Tsuen Wan on Oct. 1 last year.

Just two other news outlets, also student media, were present and recorded the incident; they were from the University of Hong Kong Student Union’s Campus TV and City Broadcasting Channel.

Under a new policy announced this week, the police will recognize only government-registered media and internationally reputable news outlets, meaning student journalists will not be considered legally reporting.

A told Apple Daily that without the presence of the student media, the police could have provided one-sided information over the shooting incident and shifted the focus to the protester hitting police officers with a hard object. A said that after the live round was fired, he tried to ask about the protester’s identity and condition.

He said that the police had often blocked journalists from doing their work over the past year, such as forcing them to leave Prince Edward train station on Aug. 31, issuing fines to reporters for breaching social gathering rules, and screening media from news scenes.

The system that the police intended to introduce would subject journalists to official licensing for the first time, further tighten freedom of the press and hinder reporting of the truth, A added.

He believed student journalists would not be scared of the risk as they understood that “one more camera brings one more piece of truth” to the public. The work of student media could also help traditional media to capture more angles and details of a news event, he said.

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