JENNIS NAIDU GRADUATES AMONG THE BEST IN ASIA
SHE WAS ONE OF 30 OUTSTANDING YOUNG ASIAN NEWS LEADERS IN THE INAUGURAL CLASS OF THE YOUNG MEDIA LEADERS FELLOWSHIP PROGRAMME. They came from newspapers like Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post, Singapore’s Straits Times, Manila’s Philippine Daily Inquirer and New Delhi’s Times of India.
Fiji Sun Digital Journalist Jennis Naidu is among 30 outstanding young Asian journalists to graduate from the inaugural class of the Young Media Leaders Fellowship programme. She did so along with the best and brightest emerging talent from global success stories from Asia. They came from newspapers like Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post, Singapore’s Straits Times, Manila’s Philippine Daily Inquirer and New Delhi’s Times of India.
Fiji Sun Publisher/CEO Peter Lomas said: “Jennis is one of our outstanding young graduate journalists. She started in digital but quickly became a talented multimedia professional equally adept in digital and print. We’ve now seen her grow month by month through her participation in the fellowship” The Young Media Leaders Fellowship is an initiative of the World Editors Forum Asia Chapter, the regional network in Asia for editors within the World Association of News Publishers (WAN-IFRA).
The six-month fellowship programme seeks to nurture the next generation of media leaders who are committed to shaping the regional future.
The aim is for fellows to:
■ Contribute effectively to the pursuit of good journalism,
■ Foster dialogue and greater connectedness among one another,
■ And build up newsrooms to meet the needs of their societies in these uncertain times.
The inaugural class comprised young, high-potential editors and journalists from across the region nominated by their newsrooms.
They got together online to exchange ideas, amplify the impact of news reporting, and learn to lead in an industry transformed by technology.
This is especially, relevant as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to batter global economies and threaten the future of the publishing industry. Warren Fernandez, president of the World Editors Forum and Editor-in-Chief of The Straits Times, who mooted the initiative, said: “This Fellowship aims to nurture the next generation of media leaders who can contribute effectively to the pursuit of good journalism and build capacity in their newsrooms to meet the needs of their societies in these uncertain times.
“We want to expose Asia’s future media leaders to the diverse challenges facing the media industry across the region and provide them the opportunity to network and build partnerships to share best practices and improve capabilities.”
The Young Media Leaders Fellowship in Asia is made possible through the generous support of donors such as the Temasek Foundation in Singapore. Said Lim Hock Chuan, chief executive of Temasek Foundation Connects: “The media is well-placed to contribute to the shaping of the narrative of our times. By tapping on a strong network of media leaders across the region, newsrooms can draw on one another’s strengths to achieve greater impact. “We hope that Fellows can use the opportunities given to grow, and be empowered to build up not just their newsroom but also to contribute to thought leadership to shape the challenges in our society.” Due to the spread of COVID-19, the inaugural programme took place entirely through online platforms.
Participants were to also attend a week-long online executive leadership programme in June, the Asian Media Leaders Summit in July, participate in various online dialogues and gather in Singapore in January for the fellowship finale.
This all had to be shifted to virtual sessions because of the pandemic.