25 journalists from Asia-Pacific will focus on product thinking in the newsroom
The Newmark Graduate School of Journalism is pleased to welcome 25 journalists from the Asia-Pacific region into the Product Immersion for Small Newsrooms program, a two-month, tuition-free, online training by the school and partners News Catalyst and the Google News Initiative.
The program is designed to teach journalists in small to midsize local news organizations to build, launch, and grow news products that serve audiences’ needs. The 25 journalists in the new cohort live in Australia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mongolia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, and Sri Lanka. They work for magazines, newspapers, digital outlets, radio stations, and other news-related organizations. The vast majority work in newsrooms with 25 or fewer employees.
“The Product Immersion program is designed to meet an unmet need in the news industry: Teaching small newsrooms to build sustainability through product thinking. We have seen an immediate and transformational impact with previous cohorts as some participants took on new product roles, some made their newsrooms more audience- and data-centric, others changed the way they organize team work, and several actually built news products. With this new, talented cohort, we will continue building a global network of emerging news product leaders,” said Marie Gilot, director of J+, the professional development division of the Newmark J-School.
The courses are a mix of asynchronous lectures, live discussions, and small-group coaching, all led by news professionals with experience as product leaders — in startups, legacy companies, and nonprofits. The program follows the phase of product development in a news context.
Meet the 2021 Asia-Pacific cohort of the Product Immersion program.
Zurairi A. R.. is assistant news editor at Malay Mail, a news organization in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Dulamkhorloo Baatar is CEO of Nest Center for Journalism Innovation and Development, a non-profit that supports freelance journalists in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
Meeko Angela Camba writes for VERA Files, a nonprofit online fact-checking and news organization based in Quezon City, Philippines.
Devan Daniel is a deputy editor at Echelon Media, a business and financial news organization in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Brolley Genster is a copy editor and reporter on the business desk at The Korea Herald, a daily newspaper in Seoul, South Korea.
Yoichi Horiba is director of content planning for JBpress, an online site in Tokyo, Japan.
John Kenneth Lunaba is an editorial coordinator for the bilingual community newspaper Parañaque Ngayon in Parañaque, Philippines.
Jane Mahoney is the head of reader revenue at Private Media across three publications, Crikey, The Mandarin, and Smart Company in Melbourne, Australia.
Khalil Majeed is the managing editor of Faqcheck Lab, a fact checking start-up in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Tahlia Merigan is the assistant editor of Have a Go News, a local newspaper in Perth, Australia.
Anand Murali is co-founder and associate editor at FactorDaily Media Labs, a not-for-profit digital media organization exploring the impact of technology on society in Bangalore, India.
Rewa Nolan is a photojournalist and writer for The Akaroa Mail, a local newspaper in Akaroa, New Zealand.
Andrew Ong is a news editor at Malaysiakini, a political news website in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Japleen Pasricha is the founder and editor-in-chief of Feminism in India, a digital bilingual feminist media platform in Dehli, India.
Tenzin Pema is the editor of YourStory Media, a digital storytelling and community building platform for entrepreneurs in Bangalore, India.
Citra Dyah Prastuti is chief editor of KBR, the independent radio news agency in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Lady Ann Salem is the co-founder and editor of the online publication Manila Today in Manila, Philippines.
Prachi Salve is a project manager at IndiaSpend, a data journalism initiative in Mumbai, India.
Timi Siytangco is the founder of Foolish Careers, a start-up serving creative entrepreneurs in Asia based in Singapore.
Geoffrey Swan is an investigative journalist and contributing editor with Tasmanian Times, a local news organization in Hobart, Australia.
Harshita Verma is outreach and communications lead at Khabar Lahariya, a media company working with rural women, based in New Delhi, India.
Patricia Viray is a junior editor at Philstar.com, an online news site in Taguig City, Philippines.
Eudora Wang is a reporter at DealStreetAsia in Hong Kong, where she covers venture capital, private equity, and technological advancements in the Greater China region.
Lee Williamson is the regional editorial director for Generation T, a content and events platform for emerging leaders, based in Hong Kong.
Kelvin Yee is a producer at BFM, an independent radio station in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.