This article explores the relationships among newspaper owners, news industry and social changes. Three case studies are used to illustrate the changes in the past 50 years. When Louis Cha established Ming Pao in 1959, both the newspaper scene and society in Hong Kong were rather backward. Lam Hang-chi’s Hong Kong Economic Journal was launched in 1973 as the economy of Hong Kong was about to take off. Significant number of citizens then craved for financial news and information. Jimmy Lai put forward Apple Daily in 1995 with the effect of shaking up the established order of the news industry. His editorial policy led to a lot of controversies since then. These three newspapers have had different developments and they are very much related to the social situations at different times.