The Society of Publishers in Asia announces board for 40th anniversary year

 

Hong Kong, February 21, 2022 – The Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA), a Hong Kong-based not-for-profit organization dedicated to pursuing excellence in journalism, has announced the reelection of Byron Perry, the founder and CEO of Coconuts Media, as its Chairman at SOPA’s 39th Annual General Meeting.

This year will mark SOPA’s 40th anniversary since its founding in Hong Kong in 1982 to encourage best practices in the publishing industry and act as a voice for press freedom in Asia-Pacific. The organization’s Board, in coordination with the SOPA Editorial Committee, oversees the annual Awards for Editorial Excellence, which are widely regarded as the Pulitzer Prizes of the region. They have been handed out every year since they were established in 1999.

Commenting on his reelection, Perry, who is based in Singapore and is the first SOPA Chairman to be located outside Hong Kong, said, “I am excited to continue our efforts to expand membership and activities of SOPA beyond our Hong Kong base, especially in Southeast Asia.”

The SOPA Board has added three new members based in Southeast Asia: Sunita Rajan from Bloomberg and Lyn-Yi Chung of CNA, both in Singapore, and Juliet Labog-Javellana of the Philippine Daily Inquirer in Manila.

Other new appointments include Danielle McGuigan of the Financial Times in Hong Kong.

SOPA’s 2022-2023 Board comprises:

Chair: Byron Perry (Founder & CEO, Coconuts Media)
Honorary Treasurer: Jasper Chung (Head of Corporate Development APAC, The New York Times)
Honorary Secretary: Julia Clyne (Head of Media Sales and The Trust, APAC, Dow Jones)
Desiree Au (Publisher, Vogue Hong Kong)
Barrett Bingley (Head of Business Development, Multilaterals and International Development, APAC, Director – Media Sales, North Asia, The Economist Group)
Lyn-Yi Chung, (Deputy Chief Editor, CNA Digital, CNA)
Ling Sze Gan (Vice President, Head of Sales & Revenue of Editorial Content & Data Solutions, Thomson Reuters)
Juliet Labog-Javellana (Associate Publisher, Philippine Daily Inquirer)
Adrian Lee (Senior Vice President, Audience Growth, South China Morning Post)
Danielle McGuigan (Senior Manager Communications and Brand Partnerships, Financial Times)
Sunita Rajan (Managing Director, APAC Media Sales and Marketing, Bloomberg Media)

The Editorial Committee is led by Madeleine Lim, Senior Executive Editor, Asia Pacific at Bloomberg News. Other members of the committee can be found here.  

Among other goals in the coming year, Perry said SOPA plans to “ramp up our government and stakeholder outreach with advocacy and reports aimed at demonstrating the positive economic and societal impact of the free press and a thriving publishing industry.”

SOPA highlights during the past year include:

The SOPA Awards for Editorial Excellence presented more than 90 awards for outstanding journalism at its annual ceremony, which due to Covid restrictions was livestreamed for the second consecutive year. Over 760 entries across 18 categories were submitted in English and Chinese.

SOPA continued to deliver in-depth panel sessions and discussions through a series of Media Insider webinars, focusing on exclusive interviews with some of the winners of the SOPA 2021 Editorial Awards.

For more information please visit:

sopasia.com; www.sopawards.com; SOPA LinkedIn

Enquiry:

Ms. Peggy Wong, SOPA Secretariat Tel: +852 5182-8323 Email: [email protected]