Leadership change at SPH Media as Warren Fernandez steps down

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Warren Fernandez (pictured top left), editor-in-chief of the English/Malay/Tamil Media (EMTM) group and editor of The Straits Times (ST), will be leaving SPH Media to pursue other professional opportunities. According to an internal memo seen by MARKETING-INTERACTIVE, his last day will be on 25 October. Succeeding him is Wong Wei Kong (pictured top right) who takes over as editor-in-chief of the EMTM Group, and Jaime Ho (pictured bottom left), who will join SPH Media, and assume the role of editor of ST. Wong will pass the baton of editor of The Business Times (BT) on to Chen Huifen (pictured bottom right). The appointments are effective 26 October.

ST has transformed from a print-focused newspaper to a multimedia product under Fernandez, SPH Media said in the memo. Aside from his editorial responsibilities, Fernandez and his team launched ST’s annual Singaporean of the Year award which celebrates ordinary Singaporeans doing extraordinary things. He is also the chairman of ST’s School Pocket Money Fund which was set up in 2000. SPH Media said Fernandez has been instrumental in shaping ST into the established brand and news product that it is today. He joined ST in 1990 as a political reporter before helming the role of news editor. He also served as foreign editor and deputy editor.

Meanwhile, Wong is no stranger to SPH Media having been BT editor since 2016. Under his watch, SPH Media said BT launched its regionalisation drive and grew its digital readership, adding that the title has gone from strength to strength. According to ST, average monthly users more than doubled and digital subscriptions tripled. Wong has led BT's involvement in various awards including the Singapore Business Awards, the Enterprise 50 Awards, the Singapore Corporate Awards, and the Emerging Enterprise Awards, ST said. He is also a member of the Corporate Governance Advisory Committee created by the Monetary Authority of Singapore to promote good corporate governance.

At the same time, Ho was previously chief editor of CNA Digital at Mediacorp. His experience in leading CNA Digital's growth will be crucial to SPH Media's digitalisation, SPH Media said. According to ST, Ho will oversee a newsroom of 300 journalists, editors, and producers. He previously served with the MFA from 1997 to 2013 before joining Mediacorp as associate editor. He was later appointed chief editor of CNA Digital in 2016 and left earlier this year.

At the same time, having started with BT over 20 years ago, Chen is knowledgeable about the publication's identity and vision. As BT's executive editor, Chen has covered technology, macroeconomics, government policy, and healthcare. She was also the founding editor of BT's bi-monthly The SME Magazine. ST said that Chen is BT's second female editor after Tan Sai Siong.

Separately on the marketing front, SPH Media promoted Joanna Ho to CMO earlier this year. She is now in charge of the group marketing division and reports directly to CEO Teo Lay Lim. At the same time, she is also overseeing the sales and operations teams as head of commercial excellence in the media solutions division, reporting to chief commercial officer Ignatius Low. Meanwhile, Teo was named CEO in March, taking over the reins from Patrick Daniel to oversee the company's transformation journey. More recently, SPH Media saw its head, ad product development and innovation, Helen Lee, leave to join LinkedIn as agency lead for Southeast Asia. Lee was with the company for close to three years.