New Hong Kong media outlet takes over social media accounts of defunct news platform Channel C
Channel C's Instagram and YouTube accounts – which had over 400,000 followers and 725,000 subscribers, respectively – were renamed Tagline HK on Tuesday.
Previous content produced by Channel C on the two platforms was mostly deleted, while Tagline HK published a video on Instagram and YouTube announcing its establishment.
According to the video, Tagline HK is a brand-new media outlet that focuses on breaking news and talking points in the city, among other topics.
Tagline HK did not immediately respond to HKFP's enquiry on Tuesday.
Channel C halted operations in late April, a week after police arrested a director of its parent company, Artview Media Production, for allegedly defrauding a government loan programme for HK$20 million in total.
As of late April, the media company's 29 editorial staff were owed HK$660,000 in salary, pension contributions, and other miscellaneous expenses for the past half year, according to a source familiar with the matter.
The Mandatory Provident Fund Scheme Authority said at that time that the outlet was behind on pension contributions totalling HK$230,000, which covered the period from October to March, affecting 18 employees.
Channel C, which was founded in July 2021 by a small group of former employees of the now-shuttered Apple Daily, said in May that its bank account was frozen and the company was under the control of creditors.
Ronson Chan, a former Channel C employee, told HKFP on Tuesday that Tagline HK had taken over Channel C's social media accounts, including the WhatsApp hotline it formerly used to receive news tip-offs.
Chan said he did not know about the team behind Tagline HK, who he said might have been recruited by Channel C's creditors.
'It's OK to find a new team [to run the media company], but they quite simply inherited all existing Channel C followers,' Chan said in Cantonese.
Chan and a group of other former Channel C staff members earlier this month.
Channel We said in a statement that the company was supported by an unnamed 'white knight.'
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