The business of journalism

Had a great chat with Telum and here are some thoughts jotted down ahead of the video interview, which was condensed as all good editing should be. To watch the video, click here

1) You've been a business reporter since 2008, straight out of university, and you've described business journalism as a "cerebral" and "fun" pursuit. What drew you to business news in the first place?

Business journalism always looks a bit intimidating from the outside, mainly because there are jargons that can exclude people from the conversation if you’re not sure what they mean.?

So the fun and cerebral part of the job is to explain in plain language, add context, and have that set against a big picture. The fun is in connecting the dots.?

The aim is to simplify, without making it simplistic.?

2) How has the editorial approach changed in remote working times?

My personal observation is that Singapore is a high-trust, high-power, environment. It means that knowing the right people may be more important than what it might be in other markets. You need to be willing to invest time to build solid, genuine and sincere relationships.?

I can say this because in my short time working in the US, I was surprised that my questions (from an unfamiliar name) would be entertained and responded to by top companies. One can say it’s a bit more transactional, which I don’t mean in a negative way. It's just different.

Given Covid disruptions, it can be harder for younger reporters to build relationships at the starting phase of their careers.?

As an editor, it has meant a lot more explanation of context and sense of importance, so that I can help my teammates better connect the dots. I also try to be deliberate and selective about the stories assigned. Ideally, they should be able to teach them something - advancing their understanding of issues, or help them to make a connection, even if virtually.

Part of my job is to build my teams’ credibility and brand in the market, so the industry knows of them, and industry players become more comfortable working with them. Ultimately, the best thing about the publishing business is that you are literally selling your name every day. Do it well, and people will recognise it, and keep working with you. It’s a virtuous cycle.?

Managing this remotely isn't easy. But this is our new reality, so it’s up to us to try to adapt to that as best we can. We need to block out the right amount of headspace to concentrate on assignments like writing and editing, while reserving energy to mentor, and time to clear bite-sized tasks.?

I’m very appreciative of my teams - both in banking and property. I find myself working with reporters of high integrity, and that’s the most important thing. When you can’t see them, you must trust them, not micromanage. And I can because they show that they can engage professionally with sources, and that they can tell me upfront if a story is not shaping out the way we had expected it to go. It’s okay when a story doesn't go the way we think it should, it’s not okay if we can’t be honest about it.?

So I think reporting at a time of Covid, from my perspective as an editor, has been to prioritise being a coach and a cheerleader. It’s about giving them that support at an isolating time. I’m still thinking about how I can do this better, so I read to keep myself informed on best practices for remote-work management.

3) What aspect of fintech are you most keen on covering? Any tips for PRs who have fintech-related pitches?

I think we were among the first papers here to spot the fintech trend. What’s this really about? Once upon a time, only banks were allowed to lend money out to earn interest on it and take deposits from you and I to do so. They also earn fees from helping you make payments and buy funds.

Now, fintechs can do different parts of “banking”. It’s called the unbundling of services - so a fintech may only do payments, or another may only do lending.?

A digital bank, basically, is the rebundling of those services. We’ve come full circle.?

And I think coming full circle will bring new questions. The biggest one is this: now that the playing field has been levelled - because digital banks are regulated - who will compete best??

More broadly, we have always been open to covering fintech, but we have applied rigour to the coverage. We fully respect that many of them have big ambitions, but startups pivot very quickly and so plans can unravel just as swiftly. I’d say the ones that we eventually engage with are typically more transparent about numbers, and can articulate clearly the business model. If you can’t explain what you do, how can I possibly believe those 3X growth numbers told to me?

A couple of themes still stand out. Crypto is obviously one, and as a related segment, digital assets. We will continue to watch fintech, but we will be selective.

4) You mentioned that The Business Times is expanding more into personal finance content. Could you tell us more about the reasons behind that and what other new developments we can expect?

We think there is a big gap and demand in personal finance content. There are chat groups constantly buzzing with questions from CPF and retirement, to where the S&P500 is headed. I think it’s natural for Singaporeans to want to figure out how best to stretch their income and dollars for the years ahead, and I think we want to do better at serving this demand.?

I personally admire what some online publications have done. We can learn how they engage and respond to readers’ demands.?

Our starting point will probably be to reach younger readers whom we hope will start on their investing journey - time is on their side! So we’ll ramp up the coverage on this front, alongside some work-life content - the end point is to create accessible content for younger readers who want to know how they can better manage their career, their money, and their time.?

Our internal survey shows we can better bundle our content and distribute that to younger readers, so we’re figuring out the model. Hopefully we’ll have something fresh to offer next year.

5) We've all heard about Singapore Press Holdings restructuring and hiving off its media business into a not-for-profit entity. Will this alter your newsroom operations in any way? Can we expect any changes to BT as a product?

It’s a time of change for SPH, and part of my job has been to develop parts of the content strategy for BT.? So yes the product will change but it’s about appealing to the readers with a refreshed way of presenting information or analysis. Can we reduce the jargon? Can we use more charts??

It opens a bigger aim of being effectively more inclusive in this regard. Our niche shouldn’t be in scaring readers off with technical terms and corporate speak - it clearly doesn’t make for a good business model if the goal is to have more people read our work.?

More importantly, it goes back to my starting comments. Are we explaining things to readers? There’s plenty to read on the Internet - what keeps us relevant is when we provide perspective on why this is important to read now, and how it can keep readers ready to tackle the next development in the market. This can be readiness in the form of general mental clarity, or more specifically, in executing business deals or making career changes.?

It’s also my job to keep encouraging the teams that the core part of journalism remains: get the facts right, tell a good story. The analogy I use here is a financial one: to invest in a portfolio of stocks and bonds, we often have a core strategy, and a tactical strategy wrapped around it. So the tactical things - revamping a website, adding and subtracting content, running audience experiments - will continue. But the core remains.?

When we keep that mission and strategy clear, then wherever we go on this journey, we’re still anchored on the good fundamentals of reporting. We just want to tell the story better.