AAJA-Asia organizes Digital Salons throughout the year to discuss important media trends and offer training to members and attendees of its annual New.Now.Next Media Conference (N3con). The Digital Salons connect attendees across Asia and the U.S. — with groups gathering simultaneously at various sites that are connected via a live streaming platform.
Upcoming events:
Date tbc
Past events:
The State of Press Freedom in Asia
Wednesday 28 January 2026, 8:00 pm HKT / SGT
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) released their annual report about journalists imprisoned around the world on January 21, 2026. On this occasion, AAJA-Asia will host a Digital Salon with CPJ’s Regional Director for Asia-Pacific, Beh Lih Yi on Wednesday 28 January 2026, at 8:00 pm HKT / SGT.
Lih Yi will present the 2025 reports main findings, with a special focus on Asia’s worst offenders. The discussion will be an opportunity to understand where in Asia news media professionals need security training and legal support the most, and to identify journalists who currently need our community’s support.
Please click on the picture below to watch the session’s video recording.
BEH Lih Yi 馬麗怡, Regional Director, Asia-Pacific, Committee to Protect Journalists
A press freedom advocate and journalist with more than 20 years of experience, Beh is the Asia-Pacific director at the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), a global press freedom organisation. She provides strategic direction and oversight of all areas of CPJ’s work in the Asia-Pacific region, guiding the organisation’s advocacy, research, and assistance efforts in protecting journalists and safeguarding press freedom, as well as managing a team of researchers.
She regularly engages with high-level government officials, diplomats, policymakers and international organisations to promote press freedom, and with the aim of bringing justice for journalists who were jailed or killed for their work. She is frequently interviewed by local and international media and has been cited by outlets including the BBC, Al Jazeera, the Guardian, AFP, Reuters, CNN and Nikkei Asia.
Beh began her career at the award-winning independent Malaysian news website, Malaysiakini, before going on to work for global news outlets Agence France-Presse (AFP) and the Thomson Reuters Foundation. She reported from across Asia for over two decades, with a focus on human rights and social justice issues. She is multilingual and grew up in multi-cultural Malaysia.
Gilles Demptos, Director for Asia Pacific, AAJA (moderator)
Gilles is the Director for Asia Pacific of the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA). Prior to joining this organization, Gilles has worked at advancing press freedom and the sustainability of quality, independent journalism for over 15 years at WAN-IFRA, the World Association of News publishers, in particular as Director of Asia between 2014 and 2018. More recently, Gilles was heading Public Policy and Government Affairs APAC for the news and media industries at Google. Gilles has also been the editor of the Asian Newsmedia Focus magazine for almost a decade, between 2009 and 2018.
EVENT’S DETAILS
- Date: Wednesday 28 January 20https://youtu.be/vi-XGekI6Wk26
- Time: 8:00 to 9:00 pm HKT/SGT
- Venue: Live fireside chat – Register below to receive a link to attend
Surviving the AI Flood
Saturday 6 December 2025
Join Numbers Protocol and AAJA-Asia for a fast-paced, interactive session. No slides, no lectures—just a candid conversation between a Photojournalist, an Ethical Body, and a Media Platform on building a survival kit for modern journalism.
PANEL: The Ecosystem in One Room
- The Creator (Source): Yu-Shin Tsao, Photojournalist, PyroImage
- The Conscience (Ethics): Arwa Elabasy, Marketing Lead, Fairpicture
- The Platform (Distribution): Marc Scarpa, CEO, Defiance Media
- The Moderator: Sofia Yan, Co-founder & CGO, Numbers Protocol
Scroll down to read more about the panelists
Watch the session here
or
Listen to the audio recording here
EVENT’S DETAILS
- Date: Saturday 6 December 2025
- Time: 14:00 am to 15:00 HKT/SGT
- Venue: Live Interactive Panel – Register below to receive a link to atten
WHY YOU SHOULD ATTEND
This session offers a strategic discussion on how Defiance Media, Fairpicture, and PyroImage are using Numbers Protocol’s blockchain powered solution to build a fairer digital media ecosystem. If you are a journalist, editor, or creator, come learn how to turn proof into paychecks.
SPEAKERS’ BIOS
Arwa Elabasy (Fairpicture) Arwa Elabasy is the Marketing Lead at Fairpicture, where she champions the intersection of visual communication and ethical standards. With a passion for “turning purpose into practice,” Arwa ensures that dignity and consent remain at the heart of visual storytelling. At Fairpicture, she brings creativity and vision to campaigns that resonate globally, advocating for a workflow where photographers and subjects are treated with fairness. Her work focuses on reshaping how stories are told, ensuring that every image reflects the values of ethical representation and true diversity.
Marc Scarpa (DeFiance Media) Marc Scarpa is a pioneer in live participatory media and the CEO and Founder of DeFiance Media. An accomplished entrepreneur, producer, and director, Marc serves as a founding executive board member of the Producers Guild of America (PGA) New Media Council. His groundbreaking work in bridging traditional broadcast with digital innovation has earned him a Webby Award, a Cannes Bronze Lion, and multiple Social TV Awards. With decades of experience, Marc brings deep expertise in the evolution of news distribution, broadcast technology, and the future of interactive media.
Yu-Shin Tsao (PyroImage) Yu-Hsin Tsao is a freelance photojournalist and a collaborating photographer with PyroImage. Known for his adventurous spirit and human-centric storytelling, he is driven by a commitment to document history as it unfolds. He traveled solo to Ukraine shortly after the outbreak of the war to capture the reality on the ground. Through his lens, Yu-Hsin reveals not just the conflict, but the resilience of daily life amidst the chaos—finding moments of quiet humanity in war zones. His work offers a raw, on-the-ground perspective, highlighting the power of photography to bear witness to the unpredictable nature of our world.
Sofia Yan (Numbers Protocol) Sofia Yan is the Co-Founder and Chief Growth Officer at Numbers Protocol, where she leads global initiatives to restore trust in digital media. With a strong background in AI business development and intellectual property, Sofia is dedicated to building the infrastructure for content verification and provenance. She plays a pivotal role in driving the adoption of the Numbers network, empowering creators and journalists to secure their work against AI scraping and deepfakes. Committed to an ethical data economy, Sofia advocates for transparent standards (such as C2PA) that allow media professionals to reclaim control over their digital assets.
Within the current context of a global slowdown, trade tensions, and weaker external demand, what’s Asia’s business journalists take on the region’s economies?
- Date: Saturday 22 November 2025
- Time: 11:00 am to 12 pm HKT/SGT
- Venue: Online -Register below to receive a link to attend

Kari Soo Lindberg is a reporter at Bloomberg. She currently covers China credit with a specialization in China USD bonds — offshore debt capital markets.Dabble additional reporting topics including the Chinese alternative meat industry, Hong Kong economy, and more.
Kosaku Narioka is a reporter at the Wall Street Journal’s Asia real-time hub in Singapore. Kosaku covers corporate news from Japan, India and China. His areas of expertise include mergers and acquisitions, cars, semiconductors, real estate and currencies. Prior to his relocation to Singapore in 2019, Kosaku spent nine years at the Journal’s Tokyo bureau and covered everything in finance and investing. He wrote about Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s economic initiatives. He also covered Toshiba’s restructuring and management shakeups.
Juliana Liu is a columnist for Bloomberg Opinion’s Asia team, covering corporate strategy and management in the region. She was previously CNN’s senior business editor for Asia, and a correspondent at BBC News and Reuters.
Gilles Demptos, Director for Asia Pacific, AAJA (moderator)
Gilles is the Director for Asia Pacific of the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA). Prior to joining this organization, Gilles has worked at advancing press freedom and the sustainability of quality, independent journalism for over 15 years at WAN-IFRA, the World Association of News publishers, in particular as Director of Asia between 2014 and 2018. More recently, Gilles was heading Public Policy and Government Affairs APAC for the news and media industries at Google. Gilles has also been the editor of the Asian Newsmedia Focus magazine for almost a decade, between 2009 and 2018.
Past events:
Covering Nepal’s Gen Z Uprising
Click on the picture above to watch the session’s video recording
In September 2025, Nepal witnessed a wave of large-scale anti-corruption protests and demonstrations, spearheaded by Generation Z students and young citizens. The nationwide movement culminated in the resignation of Prime Minister K. P. Sharma Oli on September 9.
AAJA-Asia held on October 8 a special online session exploring the latest developments in the world’s first country to elect an interim Prime Minister via Discord.
Hear firsthand from AAJA-Asia’s Nepal Subchapter members — journalists Paavan Mathema, Prabesh Subedi, and Rajneesh Bhandari — as they share what it’s like to live through and report on a revolution in real time.
This session offers a ground-level view of how the crisis in Nepal is unfolding and what it means for the country’s democratic future. It also also examines how local journalists are navigating the challenges of covering a fast-moving story for both domestic and international audiences.
- Date: Wednesday 8 October 2025
- Time: 20:00 to 21:00 HKT / SGT ( 17:45 to 18:45 Kathmandu time / 8:00 to 9:00 am EST)
- Venue: Online (registered participants will receive a link by email)
Rajneesh Bhandari is the founder and chief editor of NIMJN. He leads investigations and training at NIMJN. Rajneesh is an award-winning and experienced multimedia journalist, investigative reporter, filmmaker, and educator who has worked with major news outlets around the world. His multimedia work on different issues have appeared in The New York Times, National Geographic, Aljazeera, AJ+, BBC Reel, Contrast VR, NPR, and other outlets. He has reported extensively on Nepal’s social political issues, including the 2006 April movement and 2025 GenZ uprising for Nepali and international media amongst many other important events.
Paavan Mathema is AFP’s Bureau Chief in Nepal. Paavan studied journalism and interned at CNN in Hong Kong. After graduating, she worked at Nepalnews.com, one of Nepal’s first online news outlets. She then became an AFP correspondent in Kathmandu in 2014 and was appointed bureau chief in 2023. As a correspondent, Paavan has covered Nepal’s elections, a devastating earthquake in 2015, plane crashes and the Covid pandemic. She is currently covering the undergoing political crisis in Nepal on a daily basis for AFP.
Prabesh Subedi is a freelance journalist and policy analyst based in Kathmandu, Nepal. He is the Founder of the Digital Media Foundation and brings over two decades of experience in print, broadcast, and online journalism. His expertise spans digital technologies, telecommunications, and Nepal’s contemporary political and socio-economic affairs.
Eric Wishart is the Standards and Ethics Editor and former editor-in-chief of Agence France-Presse (AFP). He lectures in journalism at Hong Kong University and Hong Kong Baptist University, and is a member of several professional standards and ethics committees. Wishart was the first non-French editor-in-chief in AFP’s history, has judged the Hong Kong News Awards and SOPA Awards, and served as president of the Foreign Correspondents’ Club Hong Kong. He regularly speaks at international conferences on AI, media ethics, combating misinformation, and restoring public trust in the media.
Journalism Ethics: From Wars and Elections to GenAI
- Date: Thursday 21 November
- Time: 12:30 to 13:30 HKT / SGT
- Venue: Online (registered participants will receive a link by email)
Eric Wishart is the Standards and Ethics Editor and former editor-in-chief of Agence France-Presse (AFP). He lectures in journalism at Hong Kong University and Hong Kong Baptist University, and is a member of several professional standards and ethics committees. Wishart was the first non-French editor-in-chief in AFP’s history, has judged the Hong Kong News Awards and SOPA Awards, and served as president of the Foreign Correspondents’ Club Hong Kong. He regularly speaks at international conferences on media ethics, combating misinformation, and restoring public trust in the media.
Robin Ewing is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Journalism at Hong Kong Baptist University. She is Director of the MA in International Journalism Studies program and Co-program Director of Journalism for the bachelor’s degree. She has been a journalism educator for more than 17 years and specializes in news and feature writing, digital journalism and international news, including the intersection of journalism, history and technology.
The Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA) is a nonprofit educational and professional organization with more than 1,500 members across the U.S. and Asia. The Asia chapter of AAJA represents members across the Asia-Pacific region. It is a diverse, multi-ethnic community of local and international journalists and media professionals committed to supporting a vibrant press in the Asia-Pacific region. It is committed to advance news diversity in Asia, foster the next generation of journalists, empower journalists from underrepresented communities, strengthen trust in quality journalism and contribute to building more democratic and harmonious societies through fair representation in Asia news.
AAJA-Asia Convo Sessions : A Talk with Charlie Fong
Saturday 21 September, LIVE Zoom Event, 9:30 – 10:30 am HKT/SGT
AAJA-Asia warmly invites you to the “Convo Sessions’, a series of student-led, online events organized for the benefit of students or recent graduate univ students with an interest in learning about journalism & multiplatform storytelling.
Take part in exclusive conversations with news professionals & network with students from across the Asia Pacific region.
Agenda
- 9:30 : Participants Welcome
- 9:40: Networking and introduction of AAJA-Asia
- 9:50: Charlie Fong presents: Passion for Reporting and Storytelling
- 10:15: Open Q&As and Discussion
Speaker
Charlie is an aspiring Middle East correspondent and junior at New York University Abu Dhabi. She has previously worked for CNN in Hong Kong and Abu Dhabi as well as AFP in Dubai. She is excited to share her passion of reporting and storytelling with other young journalists.
Talking to direct audiences with broadcast messaging
Online Lunch Session, Friday 28 June, from 11:45 am to 12:45 pm HKT
Broadcast and business messaging provide media organisations with an opportunity to build and engage a direct audience. In the past year, WhatsApp Channels, Threads, Instagram and Facebook Channels and Telegram have offered new ways to distribute content and engage audiences. The 2024 Reuters Digital News predictions has WhatsApp at the top of Executive lists for developing new social channels this year.
The session will cover:
- Intro to broadcast messaging
- Advantages and opportunities
- Content and engagement strategies
- Workflow and process
- Measurement and tracking
- Use cases + best practices
Speaker
Anjali Kapoor has worked at the intersection of media and technology for the past 18+ years – focused on building digital media business strategies and marketing solutions around audience, revenue and growth. She was previously the Director of Media Partnerships at Meta and Director of Digital for Bloomberg Media across Asia Pacific, and has also worked for Yahoo!, Microsoft and The Globe and Mail in Canada. She is currently the Principal at Hot Laundry Digital, consulting, coaching and training on digital business strategy. Her areas of expertise include marketing, brand and content strategy development, and commercial partnerships and business development for new products or categories. Anjali is also a dynamic speaker on digital transformation and leadership and is a DEI advocate for women media leaders in the industry. You can connect with her on LinkedIn or at www.hotlaundrydigital.com.
Fighting Misinformation with Blockchain-Authenticated Media Content: Introducing Click
Online session, Saturday 18 May, from 1:00 to 1:45 pm HKT / SGT
In a world where AI can churn out lifelike media on a massive scale, telling reality from fiction becomes a daunting task. This discussion delves into how blockchain plays a crucial role in tackling misinformation and verifying the origins of media content. Deepfakes and AI-crafted media jeopardize the integrity of journalism and erode public confidence. Without a decentralized, digital trust network on blockchain, the door is wide open for disinformation and manipulated narratives which will distort the truth.
Come learn about Click a new camera app from Nodle that empowers creators and consumers everywhere to easily create authentic media content. Meet Micha Anthenor Benoliel, Co-Founder, CEO and Jeff Roberto, Chief Marketing Officer. They’ll share more about Click’s mission to combat misinformation and bring truthful photos and videos to everyone via an immutable digital proof of authenticity. Click makes it easy to confirm it’s real and happened at a specific location, time and via a specific mobile device and camera. This is all made possible by ContentSign, Click’s proprietary technology which proves the integrity of data following its moment of capture on-chain. Click is the first app to leverage the Nodle network as an app for social good. Click supports the Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity (C2PA) and is a member of the Adobe-led Content Authenticity Initiative (CAI). Download Click on iOS or Android and visit us at clickapp.com.
SPEAKERS
Micha Anthenor Benoliel, CEO and Co-founder, Nodle
Micha’s the CEO and Co-founder of Nodle, a decentralized smartphone infrastructure for connecting Web3 to Reality, a smartphone-based DePIN for real-world use cases. He’s a visionary and serial entrepreneur focused on building and scaling Nodle globally. Prior to founding Nodle, he enabled Skype to launch “Skype In And Skype Out”; and built several ventures and products in the space of telecommunications, networking, AI and early internet, including; Open Garden, FireChat, Replika and PiperChain (Sold to RightMesh).
Jeff Roberto, Chief Marketing Officer, Nodle
Jeff is CMO at Nodle, a decentralized smartphone infrastructure for connecting Web3 to Reality, a smartphone-based DePIN for real-world use cases. Jeff is also leading marketing for Click, the world’s first digital trust network, built on the Nodle. Previously, Jeff was SVP marketing at Picsart, a top 20 most-downloaded app globally and all-in-one photo and video editing app with 150 million monthly active creators. Jeff has 20+ years experience in consumer marketing and has also held marketing management positions at Shazam, Friendster, Roxio, Napster, and Priceline.
Gilles Demptos, Director for Asia Pacific, AAJA (moderator)
Gilles is the Director for Asia Pacific of the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA). Prior to joining this organization, Gilles has worked at advancing press freedom and the sustainability of quality, independent journalism for over 15 years at WAN-IFRA, the World Association of News publishers, in particular as Director of Asia between 2014 and 2018. More recently, Gilles was heading Public Policy and Government Affairs APAC for the news and media industries at Google. Gilles has also been the editor of the Asian Newsmedia Focus magazine for almost a decade, between 2009 and 2018.
Session supported by:

Some People Need Killing: Book Talk with Patricia Evangelista
The Asian American Journalists Association’s Asia Chapter (AAJA-Asia) invites you to attend an online, exclusive conversation with internationally renowned trauma journalist Patricia Evangelista around her debut book, SOME PEOPLE NEED KILLING: A Memoir of Murder in My Country (Random House).WATCH THE VIDEO HERE
Patricia Evangelista is a trauma journalist and former investigative reporter for Philippine news company Rappler. Her reporting on armed conflict and the aftermath of Super Typhoon Haiyan was awarded the Kate Webb Prize for exceptional journalism in dangerous conditions. She was a Headlands Artist in Residence, a recipient of the Whiting Creative Nonfiction Grant, and a fellow of the John Logan Nonfiction Program, the Marshall McLuhan Fellowship, the De La Salle University Democracy Discourse Series, the New America Fellows Program, and the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma. Her work investigating President Rodrigo Duterte’s drug war has earned a number of local and international accolades. She lives in Manila.
Eric Wishart is the standards and ethics editor, and former editor-in-chief, of the international news agency AFP. He drew up the guidelines for covering the Israel-Hamas war in collaboration with the agency’s senior editors, including those based in the Middle East, where he was English desk head from 1992-96. Eric is a member of the ethics committee of the Society of Professional Journalists, teaches journalism at the University of Hong Kong and Hong Kong Baptist University, is a judge for the Hong Kong News Awards, and a member of the Organisation of News Ombuds and Standard Editors.
WATCH THE VIDEO HERE
Past events:
AAJA-Asia Tokyo Winter Party: The Dark Side of the Manga Industry

Event details:
- When: Tuesday, December 26, 6pm – 8:15pm JST
- Where: WeWork Kanda Square, 11F
- Fee: free for AAJA-Asia official members, 500 yen for non AAJA-Asia members
- Register at here: https://forms.gle/
dzQp7nBKbhCL73NAA
Covering the Israel-Hamas War

Eric Wishart is the standards and ethics editor, and former editor-in-chief, of the international news agency AFP. He drew up the guidelines for covering the Israel-Hamas war in collaboration with the agency’s senior editors, including those based in the Middle East, where he was English desk head from 1992-96. Eric is a member of the ethics committee of the Society of Professional Journalists, teaches journalism at the University of Hong Kong and Hong Kong Baptist University, is a judge for the Hong Kong News Awards, and a member of the Organisation of News Ombuds and Standard Editors.
Nicole Johnston covers Australia for Sky UK and is currently reporting on Gaza for ABC Australia radio current affairs from Sydney.. She spent a decade with Al Jazeera covering two Gaza wars, Egypt’s military coup and completed a Masters in Middle East Studies at the University of London, SOAS. Johnston lived and reported inside Gaza for one year and then Jerusalem, Cairo and Islamabad.
Ramy Inocencio is a CBS News foreign correspondent based in London, covering Europe and the Middle East. He will join the session live from ISrael where he arrived just a few days ago. Ramy joined the Network in 2019 as CBS News’ Asia correspondent, based in Beijing and reporting across the Asia-Pacific, bringing two decades of experience working and traveling between Asia and the United States.
Tony Loughran is a global risk specialist, with more than 30 years of international experience as a safety and security professional with a focus on preparing journalists for hostile environments. He revolutionised the way in which journalists cover conflicts, pioneering state-of-the-art body armour, improving vehicles and developing hostile environment courses that have become obligatory, and life saving, for media personnel and others working in hazardous places. He is the author of “Zero Risk – Keeping Others Safe in a Dangerous World”, in which he describes his experiences working with journalists in such hotspots as Ukraine and Afghanistan.MODERATOR
Paloma Almoguera is an international multimedia correspondent with 15 years of experience with a focus on foreign affairs and finance. She is currently the EFE News Agency’s Southeast Asia correspondent. Prior to this, she worked as a collaborator of Spanish news media El País in Asia, and as an EFE correspondent in China, Switzerland, and Kenya.
Past events:
Coping with Moral Injuries Affecting Journalists
Saturday 21 October 2023, 3pm – 4pm HKT / SGT (online)
A former journalist, now mental health counsellor, Ms. Kuma Chow will discuss the findings of her PhD research topic “Applying Logic-Based Therapy to Help Journalists Suffering From Moral Injuries”. In this session, Kuma will share the common type of moral injuries she observed in the journalists she has been counselling, as well as some tips on how to prevent and handle the negative emotions stemming from these injuries. Participants will be welcome to join the open-floor discussion, share their experiences and ask questions about the therapy. Please register below to attend.
SPEAKER
Kuma Chow is a mental health counsellor, National Philosophical Counseling Association (NPCA) certified Logic-Based Therapist, experienced yoga teacher, Thai boxing and running coach, communications consultant and freelance columnist. As a journalist, she worked at the Hong Kong Economic Times, TVB News, and more recently as the digital editor at AsiaGlobal Online. Kuma received her bachelor of journalism degree from The University of Hong Kong and her master’s degree in mental health counseling from Hong Kong Baptist University. She is pursuing a PhD in philosophy with philosophical counseling as her main focus at West University of Timișoara in Romania.
Free one-on-one counsellling sessions for HK journalists
Ms. Kuma Chow is recruiting Hong Kong journalists for free counselling sessions for her PhD research, which focuses on using Logic-Based Therapy (a modality of philosophical counselling) to help journalists who are emotionally suffering from occupational moral injuries. Sessions can be either online or in-person. Each session is an hour long and complementary for eligible Hong Kong journalists.
Interested journalists, please contact Kuma via email: chui(dot)chow10 AT e-uvt(dot)ro – to take a screening test and schedule a session or express your interest via the online talk’s registration form.
For any questions, please contact asia@aaja.org
Cross-border Reporting on Sanitation Work in Asia
Sunday, 1st October 2023, 2 pm – 4 pm JST (1 pm – 3 pm HKT/SGT )
Asian American Journalists Association(AAJA)’s Asia Chapter is pleased to announce that we will host our next N3 salon on building cross-border international collaborations on Sunday, October 1, in Tokyo as a hybrid, bilingual event.
In the first session of the two-part symposium, three award-winning journalists will discuss their experiences working together in several countries to produce a series of stories on the spread of waste-to-energy technology from Japan to Southeast Asia.
In the second session, community members and workers interviewed for the story will share their views and discuss its impacts on workers, local communities, and the environment.
The event is co-hosted by Japan-based journalists’ cooperative Unfiltered and Institute of Global Concern at Sophia University.
PROGRAM
Sunday, October 1, 2 pm-3:30pm JST: Session (1) How to build a successful cross-border collaboration
Three award-winning freelance journalists will discuss how they conducted a cross-border collaboration, including the tools, methods, and strategies used. They’ll then share how they brought everything together to produce one global feature and four regional articles, published in Japanese, Indonesian, English and Thai. With:
Yosepha Pusparisa is an Indonesian journalist known for her publications on economics, environmental and social issues. She was awarded a grant by Internews’ Earth Journalism Network and Resource Watch to cover the topic of forest fires in Indonesia. Additionally, she conducted extensive research on waste-to-energy technology, which was featured in an article published by Equal Times. Previously employed as a data journalist at Katadata Indonesia, she currently serves as a reporter for Kompas Daily.
Nithin Coca is a Asia-focused freelance journalist who covers politics, society, and environment, across the region. He has been awarded fellowships from the Solutions Journalism Network, The Pulitzer Center, and the International Center for Journalists, and his features have appeared in outlets in North America, Asia, and Europe, including Financial Times, Foreign Policy, Al Jazeera, The Nation, Yale E360, China Dialogue, and Coda Story. He splits his time between California and Japan.
Nicha Wachpanich is a Bangkok based journalist. She regularly covers environmental issues such as mining and waste issues. With an interest in climate debates, she participated in Thomson Reuters Foundation’s Reporting the Energy Transition in Southeast Asia workshop and later joined Climate Tracker in 2021 to cover the UN climate conference virtually with a focus on the waste to energy. Previously worked with GreenNews, a local news agency under Thai Society of Environmental Journalists, now she’s a regular contributor for HaRDstories where she works on stories from human interest perspectives.
Sunday, October 1, 3:45 pm-5 pm JST: Session (2) Workers, Waste to Energy, and Environmental Challenges
Workers and experts in the sanitation and waste-to-energy industry will present the latest status of technological development and the complex political, social, and economic impacts around the spread of waste to energy across Asia. With:
Kabir Arora serves as the national coordinator of the Alliance of Indian Waste-pickers, actively facilitating outreach efforts of the International Alliance of Waste-pickers (IAWP) in the Asia Pacific Region. Within the IAWP, he plays a pivotal role in leading discussions related to the plastics treaty. Additionally, Arora is currently pursuing a PhD in Geography at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) in South Africa. Furthermore, he holds a fellowship at the Southern Centre for Inequality Studies, also based at Wits.
A K M Maksud, A K M Maksud is the founder and Executive Director of Grambangla Unnayan Committee, a leading NGO in Bangladesh. Maksud is an organizer of Bangladesh Waste Picker Union and works for organizing other informal sector workers e.g. street vendors, homeworkers, construction workers, domestic workers and rishshaw pullers. Maksud obtained his Bachelor’s degree from University of London and a Master’s degree in Sociology from University of Dhaka. He is an Ashoka Fellow of Ashoka USA. He implemented 38 development projects and produced 56 research works during the last 30 years. Maksud was author of 6 research journal articles and published 3 books. He was a Member of Technical Committee of the National AIDS Committee of Bangladesh.
Jorge Emmanuel is adjunct professor of environmental science and of engineering at Silliman University in Dumaguete, Philippines and a 2016 DOST Balik Scientist. He is the author or co-author of about two dozen technical guidelines of the UN and WHO, and is the author or co-author of nine books and five book chapters. His books include UNEP’s compendium of technologies for the treatment of biohazardous waste. He received his doctorate in chemical engineering with a minor in mechanical engineering from the University of Michigan, and holds additional degrees and certificates in chemistry from North Carolina State University, environmental management from the University of California at Berkeley, energy technologies from Stanford University, and public health from the University of Iowa.
Shuichiro Tada is an executive chairman of the Tokyo Sanitation Workers Union. Tokyo jointed the Tokyo Metropolitan Government’s Public Cleaning Bureau in 1988, He has served in several key posts of the union, including deputy general secretary, vice chairman, and general secretary at the union.
Yoshikatsu Nishimura is a vice chairman of the Tokyo Sanitation Workers Union and a sanitation worker at the Tamagawa garbage disposal plant in Tokyo. He joined the Tokyo Metropolitan Government’s Public Cleaning Bureau in 1995.
MODERATORS
Eri Tamazawa is a corporate communications specialist at MSD Japan, a pharmaceutical company with its HQ based in the US, where she writes articles for the company’s social media accounts, press releases for journalists and helps organize internal/external events such as press conferences. Prior to that, she worked as a broadcast journalist at NHK based in Kyoto, covering various topics ranging from crimes, accidents, natural disasters to healthcare, local economy and international affairs. Eri graduated from Waseda University in 2019.
Mami Yoshinaga is a Tokyo-based freelance reporter covering social welfare, labor and gender issues. Before she became a freelancer, she worked as a reporter for a mainstream, statewide newspaper. She has also served as an executive president of Japan Federation of Newspaper Workers’ Unions.
Momoka Yokoyama is a Tokyo-based rotation reporter at Bloomberg. After interning at Reuters, Handelsblatt, NZZ, and Country Watch, she now covers JGB at Bloomberg. She recently graduated from Sophia University with a degree in political science.
PRACTICAL DETAILS
- DATE: October 1 (Sun.), 2pm – 5pm JST (1pm – 4pm SGT/HKT)
- VENUE: Hybrid (Sophia University in Kioicho, Chiyoda for Tokyo; Zoom viewing available)
*A detailed address or Zoom link will be sent to registered participants by Sept. 27. - LANGUAGE: English and Japanese with simultaneous translation
- FEE: Free ($5 donation is highly appreciated)
Tune into our Twitter Spaces to find out more about ELP Asia 2023
Sunday, April 30, 4;00 pm SGT/HKT
The Asian American Journalists Association(s Asia Chapter (AAJA-Asia) will host an online session to introduce our signature “Executive Leadership Program,” featuring four program alumni. Tune into @AAJAAsia’s Twitter Spaces at 4 pm (SST) and 5 pm (JST/KST) on Sunday, April 30, to find out more!
Guests speakers:
Bernice Sibucao is one of the youngest newsroom managers of GMA Network, the Philippines’ largest news organization. She heads the network’s first and only Digital Video and Audio Lab. She was a fellow of the first joint US-Asia cohort of AAJA’s 25th Executive Leadership Program.
Haruka Nuga is a Senior Producer and Video Journalist at the Associated Press in Tokyo. She has been at the forefront in the field to capture stories as well as lead and organize news coverage from Japan for international audiences. She started her journalism career in Hong Kong, where she grew up, and holds a bachelor’s degree in Journalism and Psychology from the University of Hong Kong.
Jeyup S Kwaak is a Seoul-based freelance reporter, focused on culture and entertainment. He is also the Seoul correspondent for Monocle covering the Korean peninsula. His works have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, Billboard magazine and more.
Yunita Ong works in Growth, Insights and Operations for LinkedIn’s International Editorial team in Singapore, she partners engineering and product managers to scale LinkedIn’s news content to members around the world. She was formerly a real estate reporter at The Business Times.
If you have any questions for speakers, please submit them here.
You don’t have to sign up, but please understand the AAJA’s code of conduct when attending the session.
After this session, AAJA-Asia’s Digital N3 Salons will take a break and resume after N3Con 2023, May 25-27, Singapore.
Investigative & Data Journalism Powered by Machine Learning
Sat, April 15, 2023 10:00 AM GMT+9, Google Seoul office and online
This session will cover examples of machine learning based investigative & data journalism stories and live practices on two specific digital tools.
- Pinpoint: pdf, handwriting analysis, and audio transcription tool
- Cloud Auto-ML: customized machine learning model generator
Speaker

Youngjun Choi
Newslab Teaching Fellow, Google

Journalism in Singapore: Making a career in the news industry
Join us for a panel discussion with journalist Nicholas Yong (BBC) and reporter JP Ong (CNBC) on navigating the news industry in Singapore, their experiences reporting, and best practices of journalism.
The event is co-organized by Yale-NUS Writers’ Centre and the Asian American Journalists Association.
Date: Tuesday, 14 March, 7:30pm to 9:00pm
Venue: Rector’s Commons (Level 22) in Saga College within Yale-NUS College
Directions/Address: Saga College has a direct entrance, here’s also the Google Maps listing for reference at 10 College Ave West, Singapore 138609.
SPEAKERS
Nicholas Yong is a senior journalist with BBC News Online, covering the Asia-Pacific. He previously covered the general beat at Yahoo News Singapore, where he specialized in Singapore politics and long-form human interest features. Nicholas has worked across print, broadcast and digital media for the last 16 years. He is also a published author of two works of fiction.
JP Ong is currently a business reporter with CNBC Singapore. Previously, he was the finance presenter for MoneyFM 89.3 in Singapore, where he prepared and delivered half-hourly market reports covering Singaporean, Asian, European and US markets for the afternoon show “Prime Time”, and also interviewed economists, fund managers and analysts on the most pressing trends and stories shaping local and global markets. JP also worked as a business news anchor in the Philippines for Bloomberg TV Philippines.
Ask Me Anything Evening with Veteran Radio Reporter and Diversity Advocate Bob Butler
Tuesday 21st February, 6:30 to 8:30 pm, Mercure Singapore Tyrwhitt’s Applause bistro

AAJA-Asia and the Singapore Press Club (SPC) invite you to an Ask Me Anything session with Bob Butler on Tuesday 21st February, from 6:30 to 8;30 pm in Singapore, at the Mercure Singapore Tyrwhitt’s Applause bistro. This is an in-person only event.
From what it takes to be a good radio reporter and the latest trends and innovations that are changing the industry to strategies for promoting diversity, equity and inclusion in your newsroom, this conversation will be moderated by Communication Advisor and MoneyFM “Saturday Mornings” Radio Show Host, Glenn van Zutphen.
Bob Butler is a veteran reporter at KCBS Radio in San Francisco and Broadcast VP at SAG-AFTRA (Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists). From 1979 until today, his media career spans over 40 years. An AAJA member and former president of the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) in the US, Butler is also an experienced diversity advocate. Through Butler Media, he provides training for the next generation of journalists, especially in Africa, and conducts research on the diversity of newsroom management. More about Bob Butler here.
- Date : Tuesday 21st February, 6:30 to 8:30 pm SGT
- Venue : Mercure Singapore Tyrwhitt’s Applause bistro, 165 Tyrwhitt Rd, #01-03 Mercure Tyrwhitt, Singapore 207569
- Tickets for the event only: Free for AAJA-Asia and SPC members ; $5 SGD for non-members
- Tickets for the event + dinner (Bento Box and 1 drink): $15 SGD for AAJA-Asia and SPC members ; $ 20 SGD for non-members
Session Moderator
Glenn van Zutphen is a career international journalist and is the founder of VanMedia Group Pte Ltd, a worldwide media consultancy. For over 14 years, he has coached more than 2,600 high-performing journalists, business leaders, and entrepreneurs around the world to deliver confident, credible, and clear communication across digital and news media platforms, and conferences. He also is the host of the “Weekend Mornings” radio show on MoneyFM 89.3, Singapore’s most trusted business news station. In 25+ years as a professional journalist, he worked in print, radio, TV, and online news based in the U.S., Japan, Switzerland, Hong Kong, and Singapore for the likes of CNN International, CNBC Asia, NHK Japan, ABC News Radio and others.
In partnership with:

Code of Conduct
AAJA believes that our events should be open to all members and AAJA guests. We’re committed to providing a friendly, safe and welcoming environment for all, regardless of race, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, ethnicity or religion, as outlined in AAJA’s code of conduct.
Climate Change Reporting Panel
Saturday 4 February 2023, 9:30 to 11:30 am HKT, Bloomberg HK

Lately, it seems all anyone can talk about is the growing influx of extreme weather. All the while, wondering what steps the global community can take to mitigate risks.
The Asian American Journalists Association’s Asia Chapter (AAJA-Asia) and Bloomberg invite you to attend an in-person panel discussion on Climate Change Reporting on Saturday 4 February 2023, from 9:30 to 11:30 am HKT.
This panel will unpack various angles of climate change reporting from green financing to the politics behind the policies. Participants and speakers will gather in-person at three different locations in Asia: Hong Kong, Singapore and Tokyo.
VENUES
- In-person event venue: Bloomberg Office, Central, 2 Queen’s Road Central, 25/F, Cheung Kong Center, Hong Kong
- Watch Parties: Join colleagues and peers to watch the panel broadcast live and ask questions to speakers from Bloomberg Singapore and Tokyo offices
- Live broadcast: The event will also be broadcasted live online (please register to receive the link)
DATE/ TIME
- Saturday 4 February 2023, 9:30 to 11:30 am HKT
SPEAKERS
Karl Malakunas, Deputy Editor In Chief, Asia Pacific, AFP
Karl is a journalist and filmmaker who has been based in Asia for two decades. He is AFP’s Asia-Pacific Deputy-Editor-In-Chief based in Hong Kong and prior to that spent eight years as the agency’s Manila bureau chief. He has reported extensively on climate change and the environment, and drew on his experiences, contacts and knowledge of the Philippines to make the award-winning documentary DELIKADO, about land defenders risking their lives to save the forests and mountains on the island paradise of Palawan.
Sheryl Lee, ESG Reporter, Bloomberg
Sheryl is Bloomberg’s ESG reporter covering Asia. Based in Singapore, she previously reported for the Associated Press, The Straits Times and environmental news non-profit Mongabay. Sheryl is a graduate of Nanyang Technological University, with degrees in Accountancy and Business Analytics.
Joydeep Gupta, South Asia Director, The Third Pole.
South Asia Director of The Third Pole and India Coordinator of the Earth Journalism Network,
Joydeep Gupta writes, commissions and edits articles on climate change, water, biodiversity,
pollution and sustainable development. He also trains environmental journalists. He has a Master’s degree in Environmental Economics and Environmental Management from the University of York (UK).
Nithin Coca, freelance journalist and researcher
Nithin Coca is a Asia-focused freelance journalist who covers climate, environment, and supply chains across the region. He has been awarded fellowships from The Pulitzer Center, the International Center for Journalists, the Solutions Journalism Network, and the Earth Journalism Network, and his reporting has appeared in outlets in North America, Asia, and Europe, including Financial Times, BBC Future, Mongabay, Nikkei Asia, Yale E360, China Dialogue, The Nation and Engadget.
Eric Wishart, Standards and Ethics Editor, AFP (Moderator)
Eric Wishart is standards and ethics editor, and former editor-in-chief, of the international news agency AFP. He teaches journalism at Hong Kong University and Hong Kong Baptist University; is a judge for the Hong Kong News Awards; and a member of the SPJ’s Professional Standards and Ethics Committee.
Mastodon Tutorial For Journalists
Wednesday 11 January, 8:00 to 9:00 pm HKT/SGT

Mastodon is the hot social media platform that journalists (and many others) are fleeing to, now that the great #TwitterMigration is accelerating.
AAJA-Asia invites you to attend a free online workshop that will help you get started with the best possible chance of success on this strange, but very robust new platform. It only takes a few minutes if you follow the right steps in order.
The workshop will take place online on Wednesday 11 January, from 8:00 to 9:00 pm HKT.
Participants in the workshop will also receive an invitation to join the newsie.social server on Mastodon, a server run by journalists, for journalists, and administrated by Jeff Brown at fourthestate.org.
Speakers
– Robb Montgomery, CEO, Visual Editors
– W. Jeffrey Brown, Founder / Executive Chairman @ Fourth Estate®
Watch the session’s video here
Sharing Asia Diversity Stories
Saturday 20 November 2021
4:00 pm – 5:00 pm SGT/HKT
Diversity, equity and inclusion are essential values that are increasingly gaining visibility, especially in large corporations in Europe and the US. But what do they specifically mean for the news industry in Asia? What communities are systematically stigmatized, misrepresented or underrepresented, if not completely ignored in your country’s media? How does this affect news coverage across the Asia Pacific region and the career of journalists belonging to these communities? What initiatives have been or should be launched for improving the representation of minorities in Asia newsrooms and news content?
Join us online on Saturday 20 November and share your views and experiences!
With the support of the Facebook Journalism Project and media partners in seven APAC markets, The Asian American Journalists Association’s Asia Chapter (AAJA-Asia) has launched an ambitious project for Advancing News Diversity in Asia (ANDA). Following the celebration of focus group discussions involving 38 media outlets and the release of a diversity survey – that journalists working in Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, S.Korea, The Philippines, Singapore and Taiwan are still warmly welcome to complete here – AAJA-Asia has just announced the launch of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Reporting Fellowships.
In this Digital Salon, we will share insights from the ANDA Project’s focus groups. We also want to hear from you what diversity stories the fellowship should cover. And, if you would like to write about diversity and are considering applying for a fellowship, we will gladly present this initiative more in detail and answer any questions you may have.
Speakers
Hui Yee Tan is the Indochina Bureau Chief of The Straits Times, covering Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. The Bangkok-based Singaporean specializes in explanatory reporting and sees the good it brings to communities.
Ryan Macasero is a 32-year-old Filipino American and currently heads Rappler’s Visayas bureau in Cebu City. He graduated from California State University, East Bay, in 2012 and moved to the Philippines in 2013.

K. Oanh Ha is a senior reporter at Bloomberg News in Hong Kong covering business stories in the Asia region. She joined the news organization in 2010 as Vietnam bureau chief and has also served as an editor overseeing coverage of Asia consumer and health news. Before joining Bloomberg, she worked as a host and reporter for KQED Public Radio in San Francisco on its nationally-syndicated program, Pacific Time, examining the connections between Asia, the U.S. and Asian American issues. She’s also reported for the San Jose Mercury News. She was born in Vietnam and grew up in California.
Gilles Demptos is the Director for Asia Pacific of the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA). Prior to joining this organization, Gilles has worked at advancing press freedom and the sustainability of quality, independent journalism for over 15 years at WAN-IFRA, the World Association of News publishers, in particular as Director of Asia between 2014 and 2018. More recently, Gilles was heading Public Policy and Government Affairs APAC for the news and media industries at Google. Gilles is also the executive Director of AAJA-Asia’s Advancing News Diversity in Asia (ANDA) project.
Blockchain Workshop for Journalists
Saturdays: 25th September & 2nd October 2021
3:00 pm – 4:00 pm SGT/HKT (10:00 am – 11:00 am GMT+3)
Blockchain technology – which powers cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum, which allows for building decentralized applications – holds promise for developing a sustainable journalism eco-system. During this two-session online workshop, we will outline the path from pre-Bitcoin computer science breakthroughs to Bitcoin and using blockchain to store important metadata that journalists and media companies use daily and securely store and edit through a blockchain.
Whether you are a journalist building for the future of newsrooms via blockchain technology or a curious enthusiast making sense of the hype, this workshop will help you understand why blockchain technology being a great news coordination tool for journalists in general, approaching blockchain from the viewpoint of why it has the impact it has on newsrooms.
PROGRAM:
1st Session -25th September 2021
Intro to Blockchain
- A brief history of digital cash and blockchain technology
- Overview of technology that makes blockchains possible
- Overview of the latest decentralized applications using blockchain technology to change how journalists perform their newsroom duties and operations.
- Civil, in partnership with Forbes and Kinzen
- User-generated news agencies London-based Mogul and Netherland-based Nwzer
- EU-financed Content Personalisation Network
Workshop leader:
Daniel Yap is the former Publisher with The Middle Ground – a socio-political news site focused on Singapore and Southeast Asia affairs between 2015 and late 2017; he now does communication work for crypto exchange and is based in Finland. Daniel has a wealth of experience in content and creative writing and marketing, and business consultancy. He is especially familiar with the media and fintech industries. Daniel has also worked on various projects ranging from investor relations communications for MNCs to marketing campaigns for tech startups.
Special Session for Students in Journalism
Saturday 11 Sept 2021, 4:00 to 5:00 pm SGT
- Working as a Journalist in Singapore and Beyond today: Prospects, Challenges and Opportunities
- Trending Topics for Young Journalists: Lessons Learnt from N3COn 2020 and 2021
- From Digital Tools Training to Diversity Projects, what’s up for students at AAJA-Asia?
Start Your News Channel on TikTok
Saturday, Feb 27 2021, 9:30 AM HKT/SGT (Friday, 26 Feb, 8:30 pm ET)
News publications and independent journalists are increasingly using TikTok to promote their content and reach out to younger audiences. But finding the right news style, that fits both with your brand and the audience you intend to engage with is certainly trickier than posting a Renegade dance video!
Julia Munslow is a special projects editor at Yahoo News in New York. She works on a variety of projects, including newsletters on coronavirus and on politics, managing the Yahoo News TikTok account, Gen Z content strategy across Verizon Media Group and social trends reporting.
In this upcoming, free AAJA-Asia Digital Salon, Julia will share Do’s and Don’ts about publishing news-related content on TikTok.
Session moderator: Chiew Farn Chung, CEO and Founder, Classdo (Singapore / Tokyo)
Reporting on Covid-19 in China, Then Getting Expelled
Journalists from Wall Street Journal, Washington Post and New York Times discuss their reportage and experiences on January 8, 2021, 8:00 am HKT
AAJA-NY presents this virtual talk with The Wall Street Journal’s Shan Li, Stephanie Yang and Chao Deng ; The New York Times’ Amy Qin and The Washington Post’s Gerry Shih in a joint event with AAJA-DC and AAJA At Large.
Shan, Stephanie, Chao and Amy reported from the epicenter of the Covid-19 outbreak in Wuhan in China’s Hubei province, including under quarantine. Gerry was reporting around southern China and unable to enter Hubei at the time. All five American journalists were among a dozen caught in the tit for tat between China and the United States, resulting in their expulsion from China in March.
Today, Stephanie and Shan are based in New York, although they will be heading to Asia this month. Chao, Amy and Gerry are in Taipei.
Moderating the discussion, which will be off-the-record and not recorded, will be Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist and author Mei Fong.
The talk will center on their professional and personal experiences navigating what began as a mysterious illness and its spread, then having to pack up and leave the country in the midst of one of the biggest stories of our lifetimes.
Stephanie Yang is a Wall Street Journal reporter covering the coronavirus, transit, real estate and all things New York City. She was previously based in the Beijing bureau where she covered business and entrepreneurs in China along with natural resources and the economy.
Shan Li is also reporting on Greater New York as well as politics and features for The Wall Street Journal. She was also based in the Beijing bureau where she reported on China’s tech giants and previously covered retail and the restaurant industries for the Los Angeles Times.
Chao Deng has written about the Chinese economy, finance and trade and was based in Beijing for The Wall Street Journal. Her expulsion from China occurred while she was in the coronavirus containment zone in Wuhan.
Amy Qin is a China correspondent for the New York Times covering culture, politics and society. She was based in Beijing for eight years, reporting on stories ranging from antigovernment protests in Hong Kong to China’s crackdown on Uighurs in Xinjiang, a series for which her team was named a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2020.
Gerry Shih is the Washington Post’s interim Beijing bureau chief and will be India bureau chief in June. He has covered China for six years. He won the Asia Society’s 2020 Osborn Elliott Prize; the previous year he was part of the Associated Press team that won the prize.
Mei Fong, the moderator, is author of “One Child” and is director of communications and strategy for the Center for Public Integrity in Washington. While a China correspondent for The Wall Street Journal, she was on the Pulitzer-Prize winning team for international reporting.

Stephanie Yang, left, and Shan Li preparing to board different evacuation flights out of Wuhan in February — for the United States. They’d return to China and then would be expelled the following month. (Stephanie Yang/The Wall Street Journal)
The Future of Tech and Finance in Asia
Saturday 12 December 2020, from 09:30 am to 10:30 am SGT/HKT
Xi Jinping has ramped up his assertion that technology will be a key growth engine for China. Yet it’s facing a myriad of conundrums: on the one hand, Chinese tech giants are seeking to expand internationally through 5G and e-commerce platforms; on the other hand, the new Chinese anti-monopoly trust laws will seek to reign in Chinese tech companies like never before.
This panel will explore the impacts the new anti-monopoly laws will have on Chinese tech monopoly companies like Alibaba, Tencent and Meituan in Southeast Asia, where Chinese tech is rapidly dominating.
Key discussion points will include:
- How does China’s rapidly expanding presence in the region mesh with Asian countries growing political weariness of the middle kingdom’s wolf warrior diplomacy?
- What are possible tech pressure points that you’re looking out for as the region toggles between the rivalry of the US and China?
- What do the new anti-monopoly laws mean for Chinese tech giants?
Moderator:
Kenan Machado is an editor and writer with more than 15 years of experience in journalism. He heads investment coverage for the Asian Private Banker in Hong Kong, having moved from Singapore-based Tech in Asia where he covered the technology industry in the region.
Kenan spent close to a decade at The Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones in Hong Kong and India where responsibilities included covering Asian and global markets. Prior stints include being an on-air reporter with CNBC and covering US-listed companies at Reuters. Kenan was the only reporter, and civilian, with the federal special forces team that dealt with the 2008 attacks in Mumbai, India. He also tracked down and interviewed the India-based family members of the Islamic State in Iraq.
Confirmed Speakers:
Xiaomeng Lu is a senior analyst in Eurasia Group’s geo-technology practice with a focus on the interactions of emerging technologies with geopolitics, market dynamics, and regulatory norms. She provides in-depth analysis on key policy issues such as cybersecurity, data protection, artificial intelligence, internet governance, 5G, and trade. Before joining Eurasia Group, Xiaomeng was the China practice lead at consulting firm Access Partnership. In this capacity, she helped top financial and cloud service providers of the US enter China’s market amid the trade war between the two countries. She also played a key role in establishing and expanding the company’s first office in Asia, which generated over $1 million in revenue in three years. Xiaomeng has a master’s degree in international trade policy from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey and a bachelor’s degree in economics from Renmin University of China.
Elliott Zaagman is co-host of the China Tech Investor Podcast. He is a researcher and consultant focusing on Chinese technology companies and their growth, PR, IR, and leadership strategies.
Watch the session here
CV Workshop for Young Journalists
Saturday 24 October 2020, from 11:00 am to 12:30 pm SGT/HKT
Preparing your CV can be a daunting task. Yet, whether it is for applying for an internship or a first job, a well written CV, in line with the APAC news industry’s best practices, can make a decisive difference. If you want to stand out, improve your job searching skills and increase your chances of working as a professional journalist, this workshop is for you!
Programme:
The workshop will go through the basics of setting up your journalist resume:
- Best layout options
- Wordings that work
- Developing and tailoring your profesional profile
- Highlighting the best parts of your work
- Typical errors to avoid in CV writing
- Review and feedback
Geared towards students and early career journalists, this interactive session will include personalized advice, tips and techniques to help you make the most of your next identified opportunity.
Workshop leader:

Rebecca Isjwara is a reporter with S&P Global Market Intelligence, covering banking and financial services in APAC. She is a co-host of the AAJA-Asia podcast, a series of interviews accompanying N3Con.
Rebecca holds a BBA in Global Business and Finance from The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and is currently serving as the co-vice president for the Hong Kong subchapter of AAJA-Asia.
Watch the session here
Trauma Awareness and Resilience: What every Reporter Needs to Know!
Saturday 11 July 2020, from 11:30 to 1:00 pm (SG/HK time)
Improving crisis reporting and protecting journalists have never been more important than during the Covid-19 pandemic. As we carry out the vital mission of informing citizens and holding leaders accountable, journalists frequently bear witness to human suffering, whether covering mass disasters or individual atrocities. Journalists are also sometimes the direct targets of violence and harassment which can affect health and well-being.
While research suggests that at least 80% of journalists have been exposed to a traumatic event while carrying out their work, few have been trained to protect themselves of such exposure and its aftermath.
This session will explore the impact of trauma on journalists and newsrooms. It will equip you with simple approaches to peers and colleagues and management tactics for dealing with trauma exposure.
The training will cover:
- How to monitor how staff are holding up; building resilience in the face of undertaking very difficult stories
- Monitoring colleagues and staff when covering traumatic events
- Mitigating the impact of traumatic events
- Newsroom planning and protocols before, during and after traumatic events.
Workshop leader:

Cait McMahon OAM, PhD is a registered psychologist and the founding managing director of Dart Centre Asia Pacific since 2003. Dart Asia Pacific has its headquarters in Melbourne, Australia and holds trainings and other programs throughout the Asia Pacific region. McMahon has been interested in the nexus of journalism and trauma since working as staff counsellor at The Age newspaper in Melbourne in the mid 1980’s and 90’s. This interest pushed her to pursue postgraduate research on trauma exposed journalists in 1993 with subsequent publications. Her PhD focused on Australian trauma reporting journalists, post-traumatic stress and post-traumatic growth. Cait has received a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM), one of Australia’s highest civil accolades, for her work with journalists and trauma.
Established in 1999, the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma provides resources, training and thought leadership on covering violence, tragedy and crisis. The Dart Center is recognized as a world leader in evidence-based trauma-awareness and support programs for journalists, as well as in advancing innovative, ethical reporting on survivors of traumatic events.
Watch the session here
Why Diversity Matters Now and What You Can Do About It
Saturday 30 May 2020, from 09:00 am to 11:30 am (SG/HK time).
Up next in our N3 Digital Salon series:
- Using Data to Find Impactful Coronavirus Stories and
- Why Diversity Matters Now and What You Can Do About It
Want to find impactful stories about the coronavirus pandemic and bring in new readers? AAJA-Asia’s lead trainer, Kuek Ser Kuang Keng will show us the hidden stories in international Covid-19 datasets available publicly. He’ll also take us through some of the most impressive data journalism projects produced by Asia colleagues this year.
Before diving into Keng’s in-depth workshop, two special guests from the U.S. are joining us! We’ll be welcoming OpenNews’ Erika Owens and Sisi Wei on how news organizations can build communities focused on journalism & tech that are inclusive and support critical news projects.
PROGRAM
09:00 – 10:00 – Why Diversity Matters Now and What You Can Do About It?
A conversation with OpenNews about how to create a journalism industry that is not only more tech savvy but also more inclusive and equitable. Founded in 2011 by the Knight Foundation and the Mozilla Foundation, OpenNews connects a network of developers, designers, journalists, and editors to collaborate on open technologies and processes within journalism. We will also introduce the OpenNews’ Peer Data Review Program which provides support and coaching to journalists working on data journalism projects.
Speakers
Sisi Wei is the Director of Programs at OpenNews, where she envisions and executes transformative initiatives to help create a journalism industry that is more inclusive and equitable, especially for journalists of color and local journalists. Previously, she was the Assistant Managing Editor at ProPublica, during which she edited and managed news apps, graphics, visual investigations and large, interdisciplinary projects. Sisi has won numerous Malofiej, SND Digital and ONA awards, the Gannett Award for Innovation in Watchdog Journalism, and the 2016 Data Journalism Award for Best Individual Portfolio. She has served as an adjunct professor at New York University, The New School and CUNY, and she is also the co-founder of Code with me, a high-impact, nonprofit workshop that teaches journalists how to code. (sisi@opennews.org)
Erika Owens is Director of OpenNews, where she convenes people and projects across journalism and technology to move the industry forward. Her adroit community work has been instrumental in establishing OpenNews as a leader in how to foster and sustain networks. Erika also serves on the board of the Movement Alliance Project (formerly Media Mobilizing Project) and has trained as a donor organizer through the Giving Project at Bread and Roses Community Fund. Previously, Erika was web editor at the Philadelphia Public School Notebook.
Moderator
Zela Chin. An award-winning journalist, Zela is the principal reporter for the weekly, prime-time documentary program Pearl Magazine on TVB, the largest broadcaster in Hong Kong. Prior to launching Pearl Magazine, she was a reporter with TVB’s business feature program, Money Magazine. TVB shows reach 2.3 million households in the city, and over 300 million households worldwide. Zela started her career at CNN headquarters in the U.S. and later joined CNN in Hong Kong to produce Talk Asia. Highlights include interviews with Alibaba CEO Jack Ma, scientist Stephen Hawking and opera singer Luciano Pavarotti.
10:00 – 11:30 – Using Data to Find Impactful Coronavirus Stories
This workshop will introduce you to two of the most used international datasets on the pandemic (Our World in Data which combines the most important data from Europe’s CDC and John Hopkins University in the U.S.) – We’ll talk through the tips and tricks to navigate the data and errors to avoid.
We’ll also showcase the best data journalism projects done by Asia’s journalists in the past 3 months.
Speaker
Kuek Ser Kuang Keng is an award-winning digital journalist cum trainer based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He is the founder of Data-N, a training program that helps journalists to integrate data journalism into daily reporting. Data-N has helped publications like Foreign Policy, BBC World Service, Mediacorp and Malaysiakini to enhance their storytelling with data, visual and interactive components. With the support of Google News Initiative, he has been conducting regular digital journalism workshops across the region since 2018. Keng is also the competition officer of Data Journalism Awards (2019) and Sigma Awards (2020), two international awards that recognize outstanding work in the field of data journalism worldwide.
How are journalists Covering and Coping with COVID-19 in Asia?
Date: Saturday 25 April, from 10:00 am to 12:30 pm (SG/HK time).
PROGRAM
10:00am – 11:20am – How are journalists Covering and Coping with COVID-19 in Asia?
Journalist from various AAJA-Asia’s subchapters will share how they are living and working through the Covid-19 pandemic. What are the challenges they have met, the changes they have experienced, the lessons they have learnt?
Panelists:
Motoko Rich is Tokyo bureau chief for The New York Times. She has been a reporter with The Times since 2003, and has covered a broad range of beats at the Times, including real estate (during a boom), the economy (during a bust), books and education. She started her journalism career at The Financial Times in London and worked at The Wall Street Journal for six years in Atlanta and New York. Ms. Rich, who grew up in New Jersey, Tokyo and Northern California, is a graduate of Yale University and Cambridge University.
Nicholas Yong, Assistant News Editor, Yahoo News. Nicholas has been working across print, broadcast and digital media for 12 years. He covers the general beat for Yahoo News Singapore, with a special interest in politics and long-form news features. He is also a published author and has written two works of fiction.
Ching-Ching Ni is editor-in-chief of the New York Times Chinese language website cn.nytimes.com, the newspaper’s first online edition in a foreign language. She started her journalism career at Newsday in New York and served for about a decade as China correspondent for the Los Angeles Times. Before becoming an editor she was associate dean and professor at the journalism school at Shantou University in southern China.
Grace Moon is a freelance journalist and researcher based in Seoul, South Korea. She has written and recorded stories for the BBC, Public Radio International, NBC News, South China Morning Post, Food52, Dallas Morning News, Newsday and more. She’s also served as a fixer, researcher and translator for Radio-Canada, AJ+, UK’s Channel 4 and other media.
Moderator:
K. Oanh Ha is a senior reporter covering global business issues in Asia for Bloomberg. She’s currently based in Hong Kong. She joined the news organization in 2010 as Vietnam bureau chief and has also overseen the outlet’s coverage of consumer and healthcare news. Before joining Bloomberg, she worked as a host and reporter for KQED Public Radio in San Francisco on its nationally-syndicated program, Pacific Time, examining the connections between Asia, the U.S. and Asian American issues. She’s also reported for the San Jose Mercury News, covering Asia Pacific affairs, technology and small businesses.
11:30am – 12:30pm – How to Build and Strengthen Your Presence Online?
Tips and insights from Angie Lau, Editor-in-Chief, CEO, and Founder of Forkast.News.
Angie Lau is an award-winning veteran journalist and a respected thought leader in blockchain technology. Before founding Forkast in July 2018, Angie anchored Bloomberg TV’s flagship morning show “First Up with Angie Lau” broadcast globally into 350 million homes, offices and trading floors. Angie’s TED Talk “I Am Not Supposed to Be Here” is now a TED Ed Lesson for its global audience of 6.7 million followers.





