A decade of N3Con!
AAJA-Asia founded the New.Now.Next Media Conference in 2011 to bring together journalists from across the continent to discuss, network, collaborate and train the next generation of journalists. It has been hosted in Tokyo, Hong Kong and Seoul with support from organizations including AP, Bloomberg, Cathay Pacific, Facebook, Google, IWMF, the University of Hong Kong and others.
N3Con recognizes that the future of media is Asia. With our unique vantage point of East meets West, we bring together the cutting-edge concepts of blockchain, AI and social media and apply them to real-world issues we cover.
With in-depth panels, workshops and lightning talks that hone in on the current Asian news environment, N3Con aims to prepare the next generation of journalists with a solid foundation that will allow them to evolve no matter how the technology changes.
Check short briefs of our past conferences below.
August 2-7, 2021: Virtual New.Now.Next Media Conference
Reimagining News
AAJA-Asia’s New.Now.Next Media Conference 2021 took place virtually on August 2-7 and covered REIMAGINING NEWS.
August 28-30, 2020: Virtual New.Now.Next Media Conference
The New Frontlines
AAJA-Asia’s New.Now.Next Media Conference 2020 took place virtually on August 28-30 and covered THE NEW FRONTLINES.
May 25-27, 2019: New.Now.Next Media Conference in Hong Kong
Covering Asia’s New Order

The world order is being upended, and nowhere is that truer than in Asia. Economies are being reshaped by the rise of China. Scientists are birthing gene-edited humans. Strongmen are rising, alliances are shifting—and the press is fighting for its independence.
Organized by the Asian American Journalists Association’s Asia chapter, N3Con 2019 also coincides with the 30th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square protests, a watershed moment for the region that reverberates around the world today. From this vantage point, we’ll look both to the past and into the future to see how we can better inform readers today.
Check the conference programme here.
May 25-27, 2018: New.Now.Next Media Conference in Hong Kong
It’s time to rethink news!

Technology is changing every facet of the media business, from gathering news to distributing it and financially supporting it. Instead of trying to predict what our industry will look like in 20 years, we must change the way we approach adaptation.
N3Con 2018 will look critically at the evolving industry, from how to reach millennials to producing ethical sponsored content.
Check the conference programme here.
May 19-21, 2017: New.Now.Next Media Conference in Hong Kong
Social Disruption – Navigating the New Journalism

As digital technology converges with traditional broadcast media channels, social media is changing the way information is published and distributed. New content generation platforms provide production access to anyone with a mobile phone and social networks are taking the lead in content creation and distribution. The resulting social disruption blurs the lines between news, editorial, opinion, advertising and agenda. Recent news headlines have been dominated by the battle over fake news and the arrival of alternative facts in what is becoming known as the age of post-truth. As Hong Kong looks back over the past 25 years since the handover, journalists and media professionals around the region, including reporters and editors from The New York Times, Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal offer insights and ideas for the challenges ahead.
Check the conference programme here.
May 27-29, 2016: New.Now.Next Media Conference in Seoul
Journalism in the Mobile Age

We are exactly where we want to be: in the front seats of history. And there has been never a time where it’s been this important to make sure we make sure we are doing our jobs right. As journalists, we have the luxury of multiple platforms to broadcast and disseminate information. And yet, it is also one of the greatest challenges of our profession.
AAJA Asia’s sixth annual New. Now. Next Media Conference (#N3Con) 2016 comes together as China’s economy slows and tightens its grip on social media; as the Panama Papers expose the shady financials of world leaders; and we witness the rise of the mobile age. Over the course of this conference, 300 journalists from across the region and the U.S. will meet to collaborate, network and innovate on how to do our jobs better. It’s a professional obligation.
Check the conference programme here.
May 22-24, 2015: New.Now.Next Media Conference in Seoul
Covering North Korea – Asia Start-up Boom – Social Media Strategy
In its fourth year, N3Con is moving to Seoul!
Where does one draw the line between propaganda and journalistic integrity? How does working at a government outlet affect one’s career? Come for a discussion on state-run media in Asia where we also ask whether national bias shows up in coverage of regional tensions like Japan’s World War II-era atrocities.
Which newsrooms will survive in a future where content will be made for online and mobile distribution? As lines blur between content makers and journalists how do you navigate this new terrain?
More details, including confirmed speakers, here.
June 6-8, 2014: New.Now.Next Media Conference in Hong Kong
The third annual N3 Media Conference co-hosted by AAJA-Asia and the Journalism & Media Studies Centre at the University of Hong Kong covered all the big regional topics of the year and included several hands-on workshops for new and veteran journalists.
Among the topics: Tiananmen’s “Tank Man” photo, 25 years later; LGBT reporting; women leaders in journalism; press freedom in Asia; territorial disputes in Asia; disaster reporting; and Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.
The conference website, complete with live reporting, photos and video from JMSC students and staff, can be found at n3con.com/2014.
May 24-26, 2013: NewNowNext Media Conference in Hong Kong
Fancy a trip to Hong Kong? Learn cutting-edge media skills and what the big stories are in Asia at the Asia chapter’s third annual conference with the Journalism and Media Studies Centre at The University of Hong Kong.
The date is set! May 24-26. We will post more details as they come, bookmark our conference website.

What is the 2013 NewNowNext Media Conference? It’s a forum for the media community in Asia to refine craft and learn from each other. In the last two years, it has gathered more than 100 journalists and experts from all over Asia. Last year we looked at the Apple in China story, mobile journalism, global finance amid Beijing’s leadership change and branding and blogging. In 2011, we discussed the Great Firewall, Japan’s Fukushima crisis, backpack journalism and post J-life.
If you’d like to help us plan the regional event or if you have any questions, reach us at aajahk@gmail.com. We’d love to hear from you.
November 16-18, 2012: AAJA Tokyo Weekend mini-conference
UPDATE: Check out tidbits from the AAJA Tokyo Weekend conference via live tweets from AAJA members and friends.
The “AAJA Tokyo Weekend” is November 16-18. It will combine a journalism workshop, panel discussion and excursion in Tokyo, all of which are free.
Please email organizers Rina Nakano and Akiko Fujita at aajatokyoweekend@gmail.com if you are interested in attending. More information here.
August 2012: UNITY ’12 in Las Vegas
AAJA is a partner in the UNITY ’12 Convention, which kicks off at The Mandalay Bay Resort & Convention Center in Las Vegas from Aug. 1-4. Read Liz Yuan’s recap of the convention, where social media and interactivity were the talk of the town.
The AAJA-Asia meet-up at UNITY:
And the Storify that sums it all up:
May 2012: AAJA-JMSC 2nd Media Conference in Hong Kong
Speakers
Kristie LuStout, Anchor, CNN International
Dan Gillmor, Founding Director, Knight Center for Digital Media Entrepreneurship
Rob Schmitz, China Correspondent, Marketplace/American Public Media
Stephen Quinn, Digital Development Editor, South China Morning Post
Thomas Crampton, Asia-Pacific Social Media Director, Ogilvy & Mather
James She, Director of NIE Social Media Laboratory, Professor at Hong Kong University of Science & Technology
Tamora Leonard, Vice-President, APCO Worldwide
Susan Field, CEO and Founder, Impact Asia
Tyson Wheatley, Co-founder of Hong Kong Instayay; Senior Editor at CNN.com
Jay Oatway, former tech-journalist, author and social media consultant
Stephen Schwartz, Head Economist, BBVA
Joshua Rosenzweig, former Senior Manager, Dui Hua Foundation
VIDEOS
STUDENT COVERAGE
FLICKR
STORIFY

June 2012: East-West Center’s International Media Conference in Seoul
The conference (June 22-24) covered topics including “Two Koreas” and “Internet Freedom.” Check out the highlights on the East-West Center’s conference website.
Speakers included:
- Zaffar ABBAS, Editor-in-Chief, Dawn Newspaper, Pakistan
- Joshua BENTON, Director, Nieman Journalism Lab, Harvard University, USA
- Kurt M. CAMPBELL, Assistant U.S. Secretary of State for East Asia and Pacific Affairs, USA
- CHEN Juhong, Editor in Chief, qq.com and Tencent, China
- Mike CHINOY, Senior Fellow, U.S.-China Institute, Former CNN Beijing Bureau Chief, USA
- Thomas CRAMPTON, Asia Pacific Director, 360 Digital Influence, Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide, Hong Kong SAR
- Steven GAN, Founder and Editor, Malaysiakini.com, Malaysia
- Dan GILLMOR, Director, Knight Center for Digital Media Entrepreneurship, Arizona State University, USA
- Jeff JARVIS, Author, “Public Parts: How Sharing in the Digital Age Improves the Way We Work and Live,” and “What Would Google Do?”; Director, Tow-Knight Center for Entrepreneurial Journalism, City University of New York, USA
- Almar LATOUR, Editor-in-Chief, The Wall Street Journal Asia, Hong Kong SAR
- Isaac Xianghui MAO, Director, Social Brain Foundation; Vice President, United Capital Investment Group, China
- Riyaad MINTY, Head of Social Media, Al Jazeera, Qatar
August 2011: AAJA annual convention, Detroit
Welcome to AAJA’s first convention in Michigan, the state in the shape of a hand. AAJA’s National President, Doris Truong, 2011 convention co-chairs Frank Witsil and Ankur Dholakia, along with their fellow Michigan chapter members are revved up to help bring journalists together to commemorate AAJA’s 30th year anniversary and lead the news industry. This year’s convention takes place at the COBO Conference/Exhibition Center with special events taking place at the Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance Center.
Did you go? Take the post-conference survey.
June 2011: AAJA-Asia regional conference, Hong Kong
AAJA-Asia, in cooperation with The University of Hong Kong’s Journalism and Media Studies Centre, hosted its inaugural Asia regional conference on the campus of HKU June 10-11, 2011. If you missed it, you can see archived video and other reports here.