Speakers | Keep it Real: Truth and Trust in the Media

Keep it Real: Truth and Trust in the Media

19 Jun 2017
Singapore Management University (School of Law)
Singapore

Speakers | Keep it Real: Truth and Trust in the Media

Speakers

Minister for Home Affairs & Minister for Law

K. Shanmugam, is a Singaporean politician and lawyer. A member of the governing People's Action Party (PAP), he has been the Minister for Law since May 2008 and the Minister for Home Affairs since October 2015. He previously served as the Minister for Foreign Affairs from May 2011 to September 2015. He has been a Member of Parliament (MP) since 1988. Shanmugam was educated in Raffles Institution from 1972 to 1977, before going on to study law at the National University of Singapore where he graduated at the top of his class with a First Class Honours degree in 1984.

Editor-in-Chief, The Straits Times & SPH's English/Malay/Tamil Media Group, Singapore

Warren Fernandez joined the paper in 1990 as a political reporter and rose to become a News Editor. He went on to serve as Foreign Editor and Deputy Editor.

Fernandez then joined Royal Dutch Shell in 2008 as a Global Manager for its Future Energy Project, before returning to the paper in February 2012 as its Editor. He assumed the role of Editor-in-Chief of Singapore Press Holdings’ (SPH) English/Malay/Tamil Media group (EMTM) from July 2016.

Fernandez graduated with First Class Honours from Oxford University, where he read Philosophy, Politics and Economics. He also holds a Master’s in Public Administration from Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government.

Director Asia, WAN-IFRA

Gilles Demptos is Director, Asia, of WAN-IFRA, the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers. In this position, he heads WAN-IFRA's Singapore-based subsidiary activities in Asia Pacific. One of the organisation's core mission is to support traditional news media publishers in their transition from print to digital through consulting, research, publications, events and training services.

Prior to his present position, Gilles was Director of Publications and Events at WANIFRA Asia Pacific Pte Ltd. He was also the Editor of the bi-monthly business magazine for the Asian news publishing industry, Asian Newspaper Focus, which is distributed in over 20 countries.

With 14 years experience in the news media industry, Gilles started his carrier in the press department of the European Commission Representation in Madrid, Spain. He joined the IFRA organisation as Business Development Manager for Spain and Portugal in 2002 and has been since then a regular speaker at news media events in Europe, America and Asia.

Associate Professor, Coordinator of MSc (International Relations) Programme, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University

Lecturer, Journalism & Media Studies Centre, Hong Kong University

Anne Kruger was a daily Business News Update Presenter and World News fill-in Anchor at CNN International, and Anchor and Senior Reporter at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.  During her time at CNN, Anne was assigned to cover SARS (2003) as a daily beat.  At the ABC, Anne was invited by management to Anchor and work as a National correspondent for the iconic award winning weekly Australian documentary show Landline.  She was also a co-host of high profile programs such as News Breakfast on the ABC News 24 Channel and a flagship news Anchor.  She has a Master’s degree in Journalism from Queensland University of Technology.  Anne is also a PhD candidate at HKU’s Faculty of Social Sciences.  - See more at: https://jmsc.hku.hk/people/anne-kruger/#sthash.UkDzA9tt.dpuf

Director, CrowdTangle Asia Pacific

Asha Phillips leads partnerships for CrowdTangle in Asia Pacific and India, based in Singapore. CrowdTangle was acquired by Facebook in late 2016 and is a leading social analytics and discovery platform used by hundreds of newsrooms around the world. Asha has spent the past decade working in news and media throughout Asia – she started her career in broadcast news in Australia before becoming one of the pioneering editors at Storyful, the first global social media news wire, which was acquired by News Corporation in 2014.

Foreign Editor, The Straits Times

Audrey Quek started her career in journalism as a sub-editor before taking up a Singapore Press Holdings scholarship to further her studies at the National University of Singapore.
After completing her degree in political science, she joined the newspaper’s Foreign Desk and was initially tasked with editing its regional pages.
She has also helped edit the Comment and Analysis and Forum pages in The Straits Times. In 2015, she became Foreign Editor. She and her team in the newsroom and a network of correspondents in key cities around the globe are responsible for the coverage of world news in The Straits Times.

Senior Librarian, National Library

Barbara is from the National Library Advocacy & Statutory Functions team that oversees the compliance of Legal Deposit in Singapore. Her work also covers the selection of donation, gifts and exchange materials for Lee Kong Chian Reference Library (LKCRL). In research and writing, she had co-authored a paper on “The value of print literacy in the education of young children in Singapore” which was published in The international journal of the book, volume 1 (2003). Internally, she had contributed a story on her alma mater in NLB’s flagship publication BiblioAsia titled “MGS memories at 11 Mount Sophia”. Prior to joining the library profession, she was in the editorial team of the Pioneer magazine and Pointer journal at the Ministry of Defence.

Associate Professor, Singapore Management University, School of Law

Eugene K.B. Tan is Associate Professor of Law at the Singapore Management University (SMU) where he teaches at the law, business, and social sciences schools. He is also an adjunct faculty at the Singapore University of Technology and Design, and taught, as a visiting professor in 2013 and 2014, at Yonsei University Law School in South Korea.

Eugene’s inter-disciplinary research interests include constitutional and administrative law, law and public policy, business ethics and corporate social responsibility, and the government and politics of Singapore. An active analyst in the local and international media, Eugene also regularly contributes op-eds to the various Singapore and international media outlets.

Between February 2012 and August 2014, Eugene served as a Nominated Member of Parliament in Singapore's 12th Parliament. Admitted to the Singapore Bar, Eugene was educated at the National University of Singapore, London School of Economics and Political Science, and Stanford University where he was a Fulbright Fellow.

Head of Analytics, Customer Experience and Business Operations, Singapore Press Holdings

Fiona Chan

Fiona Chan is head of analytics, customer experience and business operations at Singapore Press Holdings (SPH). She has previously held positions including head of media strategy at SPH and managing editor at The Straits Times, and has also worked in corporate finance.

Fiona is a board member of the Land Transport Authority, Sing Lit Station and Singapore Media Exchange.

Assistant Archivist, National Archives Singapore

Fiona Tan is from the National Archives of Singapore, where she currently oversees the Archives Reading Room. She provides reference services and promotes interest in the archive’s rich documentary collections. She was previously involved in the curation of the two exhibitions organised by the National Archives of Singapore, Law of the Land: Highlights of Singapore’s Constitutional Documents and Surviving the Japanese Occupation: War and its Legacies, an exhibition at the Former Ford Factory.

Asia Editor, Storyful, Hong Kong

Iain Martin

Iain Martin is the Asia Editor for Storyful. Storyful has a team of six people in its Hong Kong bureau working to discover the best stories, photos and video from social media in Asia. Iain joined Storyful in 2012 after working as a financial journalist in London since 2007.

Google News Lab Lead, APAC

Irene Jay Liu leads Google News Lab in the Asia-Pacific region. She was previously an investigative reporter and data editor at Reuters, where she was a 2017 Pulitzer finalist in the national reporting category. Earlier, she worked at the South China Morning Post and as a political reporter with the Times Union in Albany, New York.  She teaches data-driven investigative journalism at the University of Hong Kong and Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Managing Editor, News Strategy and Operations, Asia, Reuters

Jason Subler is Managing Editor, News Strategy and Operations, Asia for Reuters, the world’s largest international multimedia news provider. Prior to taking up this Singapore-based role in 2017, Jason spent over a decade as a reporter and bureau chief for Reuters in China, running award-winning reporting teams whose work has been recognized by accolades including an Overseas Press Club award and multiple Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA) awards. A fluent Mandarin speaker, Jason was Reuters Greater China Bureau Chief from 2012 through 2016, leading the bureaus in Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Taipei. He ran Reuters’ Shanghai bureau from 2010 to mid-2012, and prior to that reported from Beijing and around the country on China’s economic boom and policymaking, and the ensuing frictions with its trading partners. Jason also speaks fluent German and has a working knowledge of French.

Founder, Hoaxmap.org and fact-checker at Correctiv

Karolin Schwarz is a fact-checker at correctiv.org, an investigative nonprofit medium. CORRECT!V's team of four aims to debunk rumours circulating on Facebook as well as false claims in general. In 2016, she founded Hoaxmap.org, a platform dedicated to refutiating false news about refugees and migrants in German speaking countries.

Strategic Partnerships, Facebook

Ken Teh leads news and publisher partnerships for Facebook in Asia Pacific, based in Singapore. Ken has spent 15 years in the news and TV business and took on various editorial and business roles at The Associated Press, CNN and MediaCorp. As a foreign correspondent he spent time embedded with the US Marines in Afghanistan and reported from North Korea during Pyongyang’s failed rocket launch. Ken was also anexecutive editor at Channel NewsAsia where he led efforts to drive digital innovation in the newsroom.

Chairman of the Media Literacy Council

Mr Lock Wai Han is the Chairman of the Media Literacy Council. He is the CEO of SGX-listed company OKH Global Ltd. Mr Lock also holds directorships on the Boards of Catalyst-listed Secura Group and the Singapore Sports School, and advises several technology start-ups. He served in the Singapore public sector for more than 20 years, during which he held various leadership roles in the Singapore Police Force and the Administrative Service, including Commissioner of the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority; Director of the Criminal Investigations Department and Deputy Secretary of the Ministry of Information, Communications & the Arts.

Associate Opinion Editor, The Straits Times

Lydia is a career journalist who started out as a television producer of current affairs programmes before moving to print journalism. She joined The Straits Times in 1999.
For most of her career, she has specialised in covering Singapore politics and policies, journalism beats that have taken her around the island and the world, including to international courts in Hamburg and the Hague for two historic cases in which Singapore went up against Malaysia over reclamation and Pedra Branca.
In her current job, she edits the paper's Opinion pages. She also writes a column in the Sunday edition of the paper.
She has a BA Hons from University of Oxford, where she read Philosophy, Politics and Economics.

Editor and Publisher, The Daily Star, Bangladesh

Mr. Mahfuz Anam is the Editor–Publisher of The Daily Star, the highest selling English newspaper in Bangladesh commanding 75 percent of the English newspaper market. During his Editorship (1993 - till date), The Daily Star has become the most respected and trusted English language newspaper of the country. He pursued a vigorous editorial policy of strengthening democracy, freedom of expression, freedom of media and fundamental rights. His occasional column "Commentary" has gained tremendous popularity among readers.

In 1998, Mr. Anam was made the Publisher and CEO (Chief Executive Officer) of Mediaworld Limited, the owning company of the paper.
Before co-founding The Daily Star in July 1991, he worked for 14 years with UNESCO from 1977 to December 1990 in various public affairs and media capacities in Paris, New York and Bangkok. His last position with UNESCO was in Thailand, Bangkok as “Regional Media & Public Affairs Representative” for Asia and the Pacific, covering 31 countries from which he resigned in December 1990, returned to Bangladesh, and started this paper.

Mr. Anam holds B. A. Honours and a Masters Degree in Economics from Dhaka University. During his student life, he was the winner of All Pakistan Debating Championship for 3 consecutive years, winning championship in Karachi, Dhaka and Lahore in 1967, 1968 and 1969 respectively.

He started his journalism career in March 1972 and worked as Staff Correspondent of Bangladesh Observer and Assistant Editor of Bangladesh Times before starting his overseas career in 1977. He was awarded Jefferson Fellowship in Journalism in 1976 by the Honolulu based East - West Center. He was given the “Courageous Journalism” Award, 2016, by the East-West Centre, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA.
He is the founding President of Newspapers Owners Association of Bangladesh (NOAB). He is presently Secretary General of the Editors’ Council of Bangladesh.

CNN Freelance News Anchor

Manisha Kumar is an award winning journalist , news anchor and TV presenter who has worked for the biggest names in international news media over the last 20 years.  At Thomson Reuters, The BBC and CNN International she’s had the privilege to anchor flagship shows, including the award-winning,  ‘News Stream’ on CNN. Aside from presenting many feature shows such as  CNN’s ‘Talk Asia’, Manisha has taken live news to air on many occasions, watching history unfold,   “When news first breaks, we sometimes have nothing but a few facts and our sense of sheer responsibility to the world to add order,  context  and meaning to the conversation, to get us through.  I’m serious about doing my best by our audiences and honoured by every journalist, technician and contributor who supports these efforts.”   Aside from her work, Manisha loves spending time with her husband and three young children.  Having moved to Singapore in 2016, she continues her work with CNN International and and has set up her own media services business, ‘HoneyGinger Presentation & Coaching’.

CEO and Executive Editor, Rappler, Philippines

A journalist in Asia for nearly 35 years, Maria Ressa co-founded Rappler, the top digital only news site that is leading the fight for press freedom in the Philippines. As Rappler's executive editor and CEO, Maria has endured constant political harassment and arrests by the Duterte government, forced to post bail eight times to stay free. Rappler's battle for truth and democracy is the subject of the 2020 Sundance Film Festival documentary, A Thousand Cuts. 

For her courage and work on disinformation and 'fake news,' Maria was named Time Magazine’s 2018 Person of the Year, was among its 100 Most Influential People of 2019, and has also been named one of Time's Most Influential Women of the Century. She was also part of BBC's 100 most inspiring and influential women of 2019 and Prospect magazine's world's top 50 thinkers. Among many awards, she received the prestigious Golden Pen of Freedom Award from the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers, the Knight International Journalism Award from the International Center for Journalists, the Gwen Ifill Press Freedom Award from the Committee to Protect Journalists, the Shorenstein Journalism Award from Stanford University, the Columbia Journalism Award, the Free Media Pioneer Award from the International Press Institute, and the Sergei Magnitsky Award for Investigative Journalism. 

Before founding Rappler, Maria focused on investigating terrorism in Southeast Asia. She opened and ran CNN's Manila Bureau for nearly a decade before opening the network's Jakarta Bureau, which she ran from 1995 to 2005. She wrote Seeds of Terror: An Eyewitness Account of al-Qaeda’s Newest Center of Operations in Southeast Asia and From Bin Laden to Facebook: 10 Days of Abduction, 10 Years of Terrorism.

CEO of InterVeritas Intl

Ms Korris provides specialized expertise in the area of social media risk and social engineering. This highly specialized field integrates risk from both individual and corporate social media usage.  She is a sought after subject matter expert in this emerging field.

She is the CEO of InterVeritas International that provides training and consulting services to her clients worldwide. She has worked in Singapore with the Singapore Police, Institute of Internal Auditors and private clients.  Miss Korris works throughout SE Asia, North America, Europe, Africa and South America.

Nejolla has a BA in Law from Carleton University in Ottawa.  Ms. Korris was awarded the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012 for her international work in linguistic lie detection.   

Political Editor, The Straits Times

Zakir Hussain joined The Straits Times' Political Desk in 2005 and has reported on local and regional political developments as well as security issues, terrorism and community relations. He was based in Jakarta as the newspaper's Indonesia bureau chief from 2011 to 2014, before returning to Singapore as deputy political editor. He was appointed Political Editor in September 2016. He has a bachelor's degree in history and politics, and a master's degree in journalism.

Social Media Editor, Agence France Presse (AFP)

Sophie Nicholson joined AFP in 2006 and has worked as Social Media Editor at the Paris headquarters for the past two and a half years. Previously, Sophie worked as a correspondent in Mexico City, where she covered news from the US border to southern Chile. She started her career in radio and television at the BBC in London.

Keep it Real: Truth and Trust in the Media

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