April 15th, 1989, Hu Yaobang passed away, giving rise to the 1989 student movement. However, prior to this, a large number of Hong Kong and foreign journalists had already gathered in Beijing to cover that March's "Two Sessions" of the National People's Congress and the Political Consultative Conference. And soon afterward, in May, then-USSR leader Gorbachev visited Beijing; much of the media remained in Beijing as a result. Democracy movement demonstrators had already declared that they were using the opportunity presented by the Sino-Soviet leadership summit to apply some pressure on the central government. As soon as Hong Kong media knew that a big news story was about to break, they sent even more reporters to Beijing.

Before martial law was declared in Beijing, major Hong Kong newspapers such as the South China Morning Post, Ming Pao, Hong Kong Economic Times, Sing Tao Daily, Sing Tao Evening News, New Evening Post, and Express, as well newspapers with official backing such as Ta Kung Pao and Wen Wei Po, all reported diligently from Beijing. Witnessing the rise of the student movement, they did their utmost to report on every story. Asia Television, at the time the premier Chinese-speaking television station, sent a group of a dozen or so reporters and camerapeople to Beijing; their Hong Kong newsroom was nearly empty.

During the period from when martial law was declared to the crackdown on June 4th, many Hong Kong reporters remained in Beijing. They risked their lives to experience the last days of the student movement, alongside the students; and they witnessed the violent crackdown of tanks, armored cars, and live bullets. Choi Suk-Fong was the last Hong Kong reporter to leave Tian'anmen Square's Monument to the People's Heroes; Choi writes that, at the time, she had long since decided to sacrifice her life, just as the students had. In addition to recording the reality of June 4th in words, many reporters also recorded the sounds and images of Tian'anmen. Escorted and protected by the people of Beijing, they secreted these recordings out of Beijing and delivered them to the world to serve as evidence of the bloody massacre.

May 24, 1989, manuscript hand-written by Hong Kong reporter Choi Suk-Fong: "Interview with Ma Shaofang: Several Resolutions Regarding the Hunger Strike Period". Source: Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China.
At the end of 2018, a group of journalists received Hong Kong Journalists Association support and applied for "The People Will Never Forget" fund subsidization to make recordings in words and video. The program invited 30 reporters who directly reported on "June 4th" to record short films in which each described "My June 4 Story". There are also 60 writers, whose book "I am a Journalist, My June 4 Story" came out June 4th, 2019.