New executive editor and managing editor for The Straits Times, and new managing editor for English, Malay and Tamil Media division

The Straits Times deputy editor Sumiko Tan moves up to become the newspaper's executive editor. Mr Ignatius Low, currently the paper's managing editor, will become managing editor for the whole of EMTM. PHOTOS: ST FILE
Ms Fiona Chan will succeed Mr Low as ST's managing editor. ST PHOTO: ALPHONSUS CHERN

SINGAPORE - The Straits Times, Singapore's most-read newspaper, will have a new executive editor and managing editor from Friday (July 1), as part of a wider raft of senior management changes at its parent company Singapore Press Holdings (SPH).

Deputy editor Sumiko Tan, 52, moves up to become the daily broadsheet's executive editor, charged with assisting the editor in overseeing ST's day-to-day operations across platforms.

She will report to Mr Warren Fernandez, 50, who will continue as ST editor, while also assuming the role of editor-in-chief of SPH's entire English, Malay and Tamil Media (EMTM) division.

He takes over from Mr Patrick Daniel, 61, who will be promoted to become one of two deputy chief executive officers at SPH along with Mr Anthony Tan, 43. Mr Tan is currently SPH's executive vice-president and leads its Chinese Media Group as well as its media strategy and analytics division.

Both Mr Daniel and Mr Tan will report to SPH CEO Alan Chan.

Ms Fiona Chan, 34, will be appointed ST's managing editor. Currently the paper's deputy managing editor, she will succeed Mr Ignatius Low, 43, who will become managing editor for the whole of EMTM.

The changes will help ST to build on its progress in transforming into a fully multimedia newsroom, Mr Fernandez said on Tuesday (June 28).

"I am proud of what the ST team has achieved so far, especially the string of international awards for our recent revamp across platforms," he said.

"But there is still more room for us to improve. We have to uphold standards and credibility, build capability and hone new skills in the multimedia space, and most of all, nurture a new generation of talented journalists and leaders in our newsrooms."

Ms Tan, who has been with ST since 1985 and is one of Singapore's most renowned columnists, said she looks forward to bringing the best-told stories to the newspaper's readers on all platforms, and to engage with them through events organised by the paper.

She added: "It's an exciting time to be in the media industry. I've been in journalism - and ST - for three decades, and the last decade has been the most intense because of the rise of digital and social media. The ST newsroom has a lot of talent, creativity and institutional memory, and has met the challenges well."

Managing editors will play a critical role in helping newsrooms to rise to today's complex operating demands, said Mr Low, who first joined ST in 1999 and will now help to oversee the management of all English, Malay and Tamil media titles at SPH.

He noted that managing editors seek to boost revenues by securing strategic partnerships and developing new lines of business, while also ensuring that newsrooms "judiciously use their resources to produce the top-notch journalism and expert opinion that distinguishes established media titles like ours from the rest of an increasingly crowded field".

Mr Fernandez added: "The media industry faces many challenges, but these also present us with great opportunities, which we have to seize. And we will."

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