It started off as a local tabloid with a reputation for sensational headlines and paparazzi photographs.

But over its 26 years in print, Hong Kong’s Apple Daily became something rarer – a newspaper unafraid to be openly critical of the Chinese state and a standard bearer for the pro-democracy movement.

Its role as one of Hong Kong’s most vocal defenders won fans, but also contributed to its eventual demise.

Last year, its outspoken founder Jimmy Lai was arrested and jailed under a string of charges just months after the imposition of a new national security law.

And last week, the authorities said reports by the paper had breached the national security law. They froze its bank accounts and arrested key staff members.

Apple Daily announced it was closing on Wednesday afternoon, signalling both the end of Hong Kong’s largest pro-democracy paper and a broader journalistic era.