Meeting Jessie Lau online, with her dog quietly lounging beside her, immediately sets a tone of calm openness. It’s a moment of personal connection before diving into the world of hard-hitting investigative journalism – a field where Lau’s journey is anything but ordinary.

As an Asian investigative reporter who has carved a path from reporting in Hong Kong to major roles in London with the BBC, The Guardian, and Channel 4 News, Lau embodies a rare blend of resilience, nuance, and dedication. Her work speaks to her commitment to amplifying underrepresented voices against immense political pressure, including producing the BBC Eye documentary China’s Silenced Feminist and executive-producing Channel 4 News’ China’s Feminist Fightback. In an industry where few Asian journalists break through, her story is a compelling testament to perseverance and breaking barriers.

After studying English literature at UC Berkeley, Lau faced a pivotal choice between reporting for the Pulitzer Prize-winning Indianapolis Star under a fellowship or joining Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post (SCMP). Ultimately, the pull of reporting on unfolding political and social movements in her hometown, especially during the 2014 Umbrella Revolution, led her to SCMP, where she covered stories on human rights, refugees, and gender. “I just wanted to write about Hong Kong. I felt like I was missing out on something huge, and for me, journalism was always about sharing the stories I cared about, not chasing credentials.”

“In Asia censorship and rising authoritarianism means that local media is under a lot of pressure”

However, after coming to the UK, she recounts the struggles of finding her feet in the industry. “I found it really difficult to break into the UK journalism industry, especially as a woman, a person of colour, and an immigrant,” Lau reflects. Before founding New Tide Media, she had spent two years reporting for the SCMP and freelancing across Asia. Yet, when she applied for roles in the UK, she was disappointed to find her “experience in Asia sort of didn’t count.”

That disconnect between global experience and domestic recognition inspired Lau’s mission to “decolonise mainstream journalism” from an intersectional Southeast Asian feminist perspective. New Tide Media, founded in 2020, has since become a hub connecting rising East and Southeast Asian journalists with mentors, networks, and editorial support.

Only 3% of UK journalists are of Asian descent, according to the National Council for the Training of Journalists. For Lau, the figure illustrates how far the industry still needs to go in both newsroom representation and building literacy about Asian regions and communities. She highlights how this was problematic: “In Asia, censorship and rising authoritarianism means that local media is under a lot of pressure, and actually, Western media reporting on those issues is really important. But we don’t have the people in the newsrooms. And so we really want to push back on that.”

As the conversation shifts towards the ethics and challenges of investigative journalism, it quickly becomes clear how deeply personal and complex this work is for Lau. She acknowledges the critical aspects of news reporting and ethics of storytelling, where finding a balance between amplifying the voices of marginalised communities and engaging in extractive journalism is fraught.

“The reporting process is inherently extractive”

She recalls her investigative piece for CNN’s As Equals, on the experiences of Southeast Asian domestic workers in Hong Kong. “The reporting process is inherently extractive,” Lau explains, noting the tension between amplifying marginalised voices and avoiding harm. Transparency, consent, and agency, she says, are vital to minimise exploitation. When asked about how she navigates this balance, the award-winning journalist describes a follow-up event her team organised in Hong Kong after releasing the story on digital vulnerabilities among migrant domestic workers. “We invited social sector professionals, lawyers, and migrant workers themselves to talk about online scams and financial exploitation. It became a space where reporting led to practical resources.”

Beyond newsroom work, Lau co-runs New Voices, a US-based nonprofit that amplifies the reporting of women and gender minorities in China. “We started after the MeToo movement,” she explains. “It began as a directory of female China experts to counter the endless ‘manels’ and evolved into an online magazine and podcast showcasing underrepresented perspectives.”

“We’re not just telling stories anymore ... We’re trying to change what storytelling means”

Through New Voices, Lau has overseen projects offering writers from minoritised backgrounds platforms to share their stories. “We had submissions from across the diaspora. Someone of Manchu heritage even wrote in Mandarin, which we published alongside an English translation,” she recalls. In Lau’s words, such inclusive editorial practices “make media less extractive by giving people control over how their narratives are shared.”

This reflexivity – acknowledging complicity while pushing for structural change – runs through Lau’s approach to journalism. Whether documenting human rights issues in mainland China or mentoring emerging writers, she insists that impact must go hand in hand with accountability. “We’re not just telling stories anymore,” she concludes. “We’re trying to change what storytelling means.”

Lau’s journey comes full circle when she speaks about the significance of New Tide Media. “I started New Tide because I wanted to create what I didn’t have. A space where East and Southeast Asian journalists could meet, collaborate, and feel supported.” For Lau, New Tide isn’t just a name, but also the promise of rewriting who gets to tell the story.