September 6, 2024
KUALA LUMPUR – The way forward for the media is to tell stories differently in keeping up with the times, says incoming chairman of the Asia News Network (ANN) Datin Paduka Esther Ng.
“I’m very big on women’s issues, climate issues and issues concerning young people,” said Ng, who is Star Media Group chief content officer.
“I intend to tell stories differently as times have changed and there are modern ways of storytelling now.
“We have to showcase Asia at the forefront,” Ng said on the sidelines of ANN’s 25th anniversary summit here yesterday.
Ng will assume the chairmanship from predecessor Mahfuz Anam and serve her two-year term beginning Jan 1 next year.
Her appointment marks the third time a woman has been made ANN chairperson since its inception in 1999.
Ng expressed gratitude to Mahfuz, who is the editor and publisher of The Daily Star in Bangladesh, for helming ANN at a difficult tenure.
“He helmed it for three years due to the pandemic and was a calming factor for all of us.
“The pandemic itself was a crisis and out of the blue, we found ANN at a crossroads where we had to find our own funding at some point.
“We started something and my job is to continue it,” said Ng.
Ng was unanimously elected as ANN chairman during the ANN board meeting yesterday.
Prior to Ng’s appointment, the other two women who helmed the ANN chairmanship since its inception were the late Datuk Ng Poh Tip and Datuk Leanne Goh, both from The Star.
Poh Tip was The Star’s group chief editor and Goh was The Star’s editor-in-chief.
Mahfuz said Ng’s election marked a transition from an elder to a younger leader.
Bernama chairman and SMG adviser Datuk Seri Wong Chun Wai congratulated Ng on her appointment.
“This is most timely as Malaysia will assume the post of chairmanship of Asean next year.
“With Ng at the helm, we hope she will provide greater voices and enhance the roles of Asean.
“Asean media outlets make up the core members of ANN.”
Wong said he was proud that a Malaysian journalist would be heading ANN.
On ANN, Mahfuz said they had decided to launch an Asia Dialogue programme featuring dialogues between Asian thought, business and political leaders.
“We will bring in voices from our own countries to share their thoughts with the rest of Asia. It will have political and intellectual leaders as well as musicians, writers and more extraordinary people to voice their views to the rest of Asia,” he said.
Other projects in the pipeline include recognising young changemakers in Asia.
He also said ANN has the task of projecting Asia to the rest of the world.
“We are known for our magnificent achievements but mostly through the Western media.
“ANN is a platform that tells Asian stories through Asian newspapers to the rest of the world,” he said, adding the media scene has evolved with the rise of social media and digital platforms.
He also expressed gratitude to Star Media Group and Sin Chew Daily for organising the event.
ANN is the leading regional alliance of news titles striving to bring the region closer through an active sharing of editorial content on happenings in the region.
Formed in 1999, the network’s members hail from the 10 South-East Asian economies as well as several other locations in East and South Asia.
Apart from Malaysia, other media outlets are from Bhutan, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Japan, Myanmar, Nepal, the Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, South Korea and Vietnam.