AAJA-Asia

The AAJA-Asia stands in support of Selina Cheng, a former Wall Street Journal reporter in the Hong Kong Bureau who was recently terminated from her job after she rejected WSJ’s demand to step down from her position as the chairperson of the Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA).

AAJA-Asia statement on the Wall Street Journal’s firing of Hong Kong Journalists Association chair Selina Cheng.

I was recently selected to participate in the ‘Training the Trainer’ sessions by AAJA-Asia and Google News Initiative. Happy to share that I have successfully completed the program and thus, joined this esteemed network of media professionals. https://lnkd.in/gBC-Qrby

After three intense days at #n3con2024, participants and speakers got the chance to unwind, relax and connect at our closing networking reception. Hosted by Alibaba Group, we gathered at Malts to network, converse, and enjoy the evening over food and drink. Thank you to everyone at N3Con, and we can't wait to see you again next year!

One of our keynote morning sessions at N3Con was the US-China Trade War session. Dylan Loh, Correspondent at Nikkei, moderated the panel with Geoff Howie, Market Strategist at SGX Group, Liza Lin, China Tech Reporter from The Wall Street Journal, and Jane Lanhee Lee, Tech Reporter at Bloomberg. Together, they provided valuable insights on the ongoing dispute and added tips for journalists and reporters seeking to cover the issue and conduct their own research!

This year’s programming at N3Con featured a vast range of disciplines and voices in journalism. We would like to thank Philippine Airlines for their support for bringing some of our Filipino speakers to the conference! At the Ethics in the Newsroom session, moderated by Juliana Liu, Asia Editor at CNN Business, Cai Ordinario, reporter at BusinessMirror, together with Esther Ng, Chief Content Officer of Star Media Group Berhad and Eric Wishart, Standards and Ethics Editor at AFP, spoke on maintaining strict ethical standards in the newsroom, and how to ensure journalists can continuously stay in line with ethical values and goals. In the concurrent Media Entrepreneurship session Roby Alampay, founder of PumaPodcast served as moderator, joining Sudhir Thomas Vadaketh, Editor-in-Chief of Jom, Jin D., Chief Executive Officer of 端傳媒 Initium Media Technology Ltd, and Ilyas Sholihyn, Editor-in-Chief of RICE Media. They drew on their combined decades of experience in journalism and media and discussed the workings of independent media companies and how best to engage new readers.

N3Con stayed true to AAJA’s mission to promote diverse voices and knowledge. We are grateful for Cebu Pacific Air's support for bringing several speakers from the Philippines! Miriam Grace Go shared her wisdom with political coverage with Rappler and how to better engage a national community with effective journalism, alongside Seenhau THAM from Malaysiakini and Douglas Schorzman from The New York Times. Lou Albano from GMA Network, Inc. also joined us with Wai Mun Ng from Eco-Business and Audrey Tan at The Straits Times to share her experiences with environmental reporting and its ethical responsibilities. Finally, Sherilyn Bruan, also from GMA Network, Inc., joined Danny Kim, MFA and Hon Yuen Leong on enhancing reporting using documentaries, video, and visual media.

I just got back from the #N3Con2024 in Singapore – my second time to attend this annual journalism conference – and I always feel energized and inspired even days after the event ended. I’ve only joined AAJA-Asia last year (as part of the 2023 batch of its Executive Leadership Program), but I have already seen how joining this organization has helped me in my career in terms of expanding my network and upgrading my skills (especially my leadership and management skills). But this year is especially meaningful to me as we have a big Pinoy delegation, with the likes of my friends – and highly respected colleagues - Cai Ordinario, reporter at BusinessMirror and Gigi Go, managing editor of Rappler serving as panel discussants!  Thank you to Cebu Pacific Air and Philippine Airlines for making this possible. Attending these conferences was also an eye opener for me. Of course, I can always say that I don’t mind paying for my plane tickets and hotel bookings because I consider it a career investment to attend the #N3Con. But I’m speaking from the position of privilege: I am being paid a living wage which allows me to invest. This is not the reality for most journalists in developing countries like the Philippines. It’s a chicken and egg situation. On one hand, you need to have a large network and to upgrade your skills to get better paying job opportunities. But on the other hand, your meager paycheck keeps you from networking and upgrading your skills. I consider it my personal goal to help my colleagues  tap possible funding sources like corporate sponsorships so that they  can attend conferences like these. After all, we working journalists from developing economies need to make our voices heard and I know that journos like us are bringing something of bring value to the table.

NBCU’s commitment to diversifying the newsroom and the media industry spans across the globe. Our Talent Acquisition team and CNBC professionals in Singapore recently shared industry knowledge with members of AAJA-Asia. Supervising Producer, Connie Tan Hui Ann, shared tips to break into the news industry speaking on a career panel at the annual New.Now.Next Media Conference, (N3Con). While at CNBC Studios, Reporter John Patrick (JP) Ong and Technical Operations Director, Jimmy Ong gave a behind-the-scenes tour to inspire aspiring news leaders. Here you can shape the future. #NBCUHereYouCan #AAJAasia #N3Con2024