Leadership changes announced at SPH Media Group; new editors for Straits Times, Business Times

SINGAPORE: SPH Media Group announced several changes to leadership positions in its newsrooms on Tuesday (Oct 11), with new editors set to take the helm at its newspapers The Straits Times (ST) and The Business Times (BT).

The editor-in-chief of SPH Media's English/Malay/Tamil Media group (EMTM) and editor of ST Warren Fernandez will leave the company to pursue other professional opportunities, ST reported SPH Media as saying.

He will be replaced in his EMTM role by Mr Wong Wei Kong, the current editor of BT.

The EMTM group includes ST, BT, Berita Harian and Tamil Murasu.

Mr Fernandez's role as editor of ST, meanwhile, will be taken on by Mr Jaime Ho, the former chief editor of CNA Digital.

Mr Wong's position at BT will be taken over by the newspaper's current executive editor Chen Huifen.

All three appointments will take effect on Oct 26, reported ST.

"It has been my honour to serve as the editor-in-chief of ST and its sister titles which so many Singaporeans rely on for credible news and views," ST reported Mr Fernandez as saying.

"My colleagues and I have strived to transform our newsrooms to become multimedia news operations to meet audiences' changing needs. This remains a work in progress, and the challenge now passes to my colleagues to take this further forward. I will be cheering them on as they do."

A Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) scholar, Mr Fernandez first joined ST in 1990, becoming news editor, foreign editor and deputy editor during his first stint at the paper.

He left in 2008 to take on a management role at Royal Dutch Shell before returning as the paper's editor in 2012. He became EMTM group editor-in-chief in 2016.

Mr Khaw Boon Wan, the chairman of SPH Media's holding company SPH Media Trust, thanked Mr Fernandez for his work with ST.

"I would like to thank Warren for his extraordinary dedication to ST in the past decade," ST reported him as saying.

"Warren has successfully paved the way for ST's continued growth, both as a news product on multiple platforms and an established brand. We wish him every success in his future endeavours."

Mr Wong, who has been the editor of BT since 2016, reflected on the importance of the group he will now oversee.

"In an increasingly polarised world, the four newsrooms in EMTM – ST, BT, and the vernaculars, Berita Harian and Tamil Murasu – must strive to be the credible voices that Singaporeans trust," the ST reported him as saying.

"I look forward to working with my newsroom colleagues to enable and support them to achieve this."

Mr Ho said that it was an honour to be joining ST at this stage of its evolution.

"I am honoured to have the opportunity to play a role in the next phase of ST's transformation, especially as it pushes its digital growth, and takes on the challenges of disruption in the news and media industry in Singapore and around the world," ST reported him as saying.

A former civil servant who spent more than 15 years with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr Ho joined Mediacorp in 2013, becoming chief editor of CNA Digital in 2016. He held this role until April 2022.

Ms Chen, who will become the BT's second-ever female editor, has been with SPH for more than 20 years.