For Review Only

Bertrand Teo
“... a story that takes readers into the granular aspects of newsroom
operations, media relations and the future of the industry. ”
– Professor Ang Peng Hwa, Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information
Bertrand Teo
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

“Read the book and glean valuable insights from one who has learnt
to navigate disruption himself and now brings you tools and tips on
how to do the same!”

Navigating
– Brenda Lee, Strategic Business Communication Skills Specialist

N avi gat i ng disruption

The Knowledge Factor

The connection between the media and popular culture is

inextricably linked. What we listen to, watch and consume
influences our way of life and shapes the stories that content
creators tell through mass media. With digitalisation, the ways in
which storytellers reach their audience have evolved significantly.

disruption
Navigating Disruption: Media Relations in the Digital Age
offers an insight into this digital evolution through the eyes of a
working-level journalist. This book tells the story of the seismic
shift in media operations in both US and Singapore newsrooms
between 2011 and 2015, when the author witnessed the
cascading impact of digitalisation in newsrooms across
transnational borders.
His foray into public relations—post-journalism—helped him
to frame the impact of digitalisation on Singapore audiences.
He shares his take on changing media consumption habits and
how PR tactics have adapted to the evolving media landscape.
Marshall Cavendish

MEDIA & COMMUNICATIONS

media relations in
Editions

ISBN 978-981-4893-74-9

,!7IJ8B4-ijdhej! t h e d i g i ta l Ag e
 For Review Only

Bertrand Teo

Navigating
disruption
media relations in
t h e d i g i ta l Ag e
 For Review Only

© 2021 Marshall Cavendish International (Asia) Private Limited

Text © Bertrand Teo

Published by Marshall Cavendish Editions

An imprint of Marshall Cavendish International

All rights reserved

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted,

in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise,
without the prior permission of the copyright owner. Requests for permission should be
addressed to the Publisher, Marshall Cavendish International (Asia) Private Limited,
1 New Industrial Road, Singapore 536196. Tel: (65) 6213 9300.
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and specifically disclaims any implied warranties or merchantability or fitness for any particular
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Marshall Cavendish is a registered trademark of Times Publishing Limited

National Library Board, Singapore Cataloguing in Publication Data

Names: Teo, Bertrand.

Title: Navigating disruption : media relations in the digital age / Bertrand Teo.
Description: Singapore : Marshall Cavendish Editions, [2020]
Identifiers: OCN 1191463676 | ISBN 978-981-48-9374-9 (paperback)
Subjects: LCSH: Mass media--21st century. | Social media--Economic
aspects--Singapore--21st century. | Public relations--Singapore--21st
century.
Classification: DDC 302.23--dc23

Printed in Singapore
 For Review Only

Contents

Foreword 7
Introduction: The Importance of Telling the Singapore Story 11

PART I
HOW DIGITALISATION TRANSFORMED
THE NEWSROOM
1. The Global Dominance of US Media 21
2. The Road to Louisville, Kentucky 34
3. Life as a TV News Producer 49
4. CNA: From Television to Transmedia 63

PART II
BYPASSING MAINSTREAM MEDIA:
PUBLIC RELATIONS IN A DIGITAL WORLD
5. A Portrait of Singapore’s New Media Landscape 77
6. The Impact of Digitalisation on Public Relations 94
7. Planning the Digital PR Campaign 111

PART III
A GLIMPSE OF THE FUTURE OF CORPORATE
COMMUNICATION IN SINGAPORE
8. Singapore Brand Journalism: A Nation-Building Model 137
9. Corporate Storytelling and Message House Design 154
10. Internal Communication in the Digital Age 167
11. What’s Next for Public Relations Professionals? 177

Epilogue 201
Acknowledgements 203
About the Author 204
 For Review Only

The Importance of Telling the

Singapore Story

The year 2020 will be remembered for the COVID-19 pandemic,

a crisis so profound in its impact that it has disrupted industries,
healthcare systems and daily life. One by-product of the virus is how
it has brought to the fore the ingrained racism in some pockets of
communities around the world. Since the outbreak of infections,
there has been a surge of media reports of people of East Asian
appearance being targeted for racially-aggravated abuse and assault.
Such cases are likely perpetuated by a wave of derogatory media
reports linking China to the virus.

Among the early wave of COVID-19 stories were reports driven by

nativism and xenophobia. A French newspaper, Courrier picard, ran
a 26 January cover story with the headline “Alerte Jaune”, or “Yellow
Alert”, to describe the then-epidemic’s spread in racial terms, given
the Western notion that East Asians are yellow-skinned. A week later,
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) ran a headline that read “China Is the
 For Review Only
12 Navigating Disruption

Real Sick Man of Asia”. The story led to the expulsion of three WSJ
journalists from their Beijing office.1 Separately, News Corporation’s
Fox News used the term “Chinese Coronavirus” in a move blaming
China; it is a term that US President Trump used at one point to
blame China, after a Chinese official insinuated that the virus was
first introduced by the US Army. And then, there are all the reports
showing images of East Asian faces wearing masks2 that adds to the
hysteria that Asian people are likely disease spreaders.

Racist reports hurt Asians in western

communities
The treatment given to these news reports are based on implicit
allegations borne out of racist stereotypes about China: authoritarian
government, unhygienic practices among the people and weird eating
habits. The question is: are these stereotypes and allegations true to
begin with? Was it a case of the suppressing of voices that led to a
wider community spread? Maybe. But, in my visits to China and
talking to mainland Chinese peers, I have seen that they are more
than ready to voice out against authorities when needed.

Was it poor hygiene at wet markets and eating habits? Well, there are
plenty of wet markets all around Asia and the world. The wet market
is not peculiar to China. And neither is eating exotic foods.

The bottomline is this: viruses have emerged from every part of the
world—H1N1 in the USA, Ebola in Africa and MERS in Saudi Arabia.

The reports described above are, therefore, irresponsible, misleading

and—more importantly—dangerous to Asians in Western
communities. While viruses do not discriminate by skin colour,
race or nationality, the news reports make an explicit association
of race and/or nationality with COVID-19. By drawing this link,
1
WSJ (2020).
2
Carroll, L. (2020).
 For Review Only

Introduction 13

these reports can potentially cause harm to Asians living in Western

communities, because it gives the impression that any Chinese
person is a potential disease carrier and responsible for spreading the
illness to the community.

Journalism ethics and integrity: Accuracy,

objectivity and minimising harm
In journalism school, students are taught ethical principles of accuracy,
impartiality, objectivity and, more importantly, the minimising of
harm.3 The purpose of journalism is virtuous in nature—it is to
inform and educate readers of what is happening around them, so
that they can make informed choices. These practices can be linked
to theories such as Mill’s Principle of Utility and Rawl’s Veil of
Ignorance. The former adopts a consequentialist frame of thinking,
whereby the goal is of utility—obtaining the “greatest good for the
greatest number”.4 Rawl’s veil of ignorance, on the other hand,
is a fairness experiment—the masking of socio-cultural factors
such as income status, race, and gender in decision making.5 This
theoretically ensures unbiased reporting as the reporter is obliged to
walk in the shoes of the less privileged subject.

In practice, responsible journalism is not always adhered to, even

in esteemed news organisations. While inflammatory reports may
not directly contribute to abuse, the stories blaming China certainly
perpetuate the unfair targeting. The surge in media reports of East
Asian-looking people living in Western countries being targeted with
COVID-19-related physical and verbal abuse is evidence of the kind
of discrimination facing Asians. Trained journalists have a duty to
disabuse readers of their bias and educate them.

Reporting through a Western value lens: Cultural stereotypes

The question, then, is why would journalists from esteemed news
3
[Link]. n.d.
4
Christians, C., Fackler, M., McKee, K. and Kreshel, P., 2004.
5
Farnam Street. n.d.
 For Review Only
14 Navigating Disruption

organisations write headlines and stories that inflame hatred and

mislead?

I think the problem is that Western newsrooms rely on stereotypical

cultural narratives and old ideas of the region, because of a lack of
knowledge of Asia. I explore such biased reporting in the international
newsgathering system in chapter 3, where I describe my life as a TV
news producer. This is perhaps a reflection of the ingrained bias the
mainstream community has of Asian people as being perpetually
foreign, but it does not make the racist reports any less harmful.

Hence, with Asia-related stories of COVID-19, the tendency is to

lean on the narrative trope that China is an authoritarian foreign
threat. This idea was born in the Cold War era when the US-backed
nationalist Kuomintang were defeated by the communists in
China, and the United States led a containment strategy to curb the
communist influence in Asia.

Adopting old-world views is lazy and takes the path of sensationalism.

Journalism is prone to sensationalist tendencies, to pique readers’
attention. To attract a mass audience, news outlets typically need to
create a connection with viewers through conventional themes and
cultural stereotypes. This could be in the form of over dramatising an
issue, linking it with prominent persons like celebrities, and drawing
on the widespread idea that China is a military and economic threat
to the US.
_
The lack of specificity in the headline of the CNN
report on Jonathan Mok
In early March 2020, Singaporean student Jonathan Mok revealed
via Facebook he was the target of a ‘racially aggravated’ attack in
 For Review Only

Introduction 15

London. The assailants had allegedly told him: “We don’t want your
coronavirus in our country.”6 When CNN picked up Mok’s story, the
news outlet described the man as a “Chinese student”, revising it
later to “East Asian”.7 This was following reader comments and
internal correction emails from employees to correctly identify him
as Singaporean. The CNN editor eventually kept to the “East Asian”
description in the headline to describe Jonathan, a term equally
inaccurate.

The term “Chinese student” is not technically wrong, but it is very

misleading—similar to calling an African American man “African”. An
African American is distinct from an African, just as an Irish American
is distinct from an Irishman from Dublin. There are ethnic Chinese
people all over the world. Many of these communities have lived in
their respective countries for centuries. The responsible way would be
to state the nationality for accuracy.

“East Asian” is even more inaccurate. Singapore is not in East Asia.

It is in Southeast Asia. In the US, however, the term “East Asian” is
used to describe people of Chinese, Japanese and Korean descent;
likewise, “South Asian” is used to describe people from the Indian
subcontinent. Nevertheless, the term “East Asian student” is wrong
because Jonathan is not from East Asia. Based on Jonathan’s CNA938
interview, he speaks with a Singaporean accent and was raised in
Singapore.

This CNN story provides yet again another example of little care with
accuracy for Asian-related subject matter. At least to me, it is important
that the world see what a Singaporean face looks like, and I highly
doubt if other Singaporeans think of ourselves as “East Asian”. I could
argue that the CNN editor retained “East Asian student” possibly to
make the headline understandable to an American readership. But this

6
BBC News (2020).
7
Guy, C. (2020).
 For Review Only
16 Navigating Disruption

is still inaccurate. A quick fix would be to say that Jonathan is of “East

Asian descent” or “Asian”, but a better solution would be to educate
Americans about the diversity of Asia, and especially Southeast Asia.

The lesson for me is that we need more storytelling about Singapore.

This CNN report proves my point. In my opening chapter, I share how
American society in general does not know much about Southeast
Asia and Singapore. Many Singaporeans who venture outside of Asia
will find that their part of the world is little known. Singapore needs
to keep telling stories about itself to the world.

References
BBC News (2020). Teens Arrested Over Racist Coronavirus
Attack. [online] Available at: <[Link]
uk-england-london-51771355>.
Carroll, L. (2020). Why Does Every Coronavirus Story Show An
Image Of Chinatown? Racism. [online] [Link]. Available
at: <[Link]
coronavirus-racism-asian-photos-nyc-chinatown.
Christians, C., Fackler, M., McKee, K. and Kreshel, P. (2004). Media
Ethics. 7th ed. New York: Longman, pp.1–27.
Farnam Street. n.d. The Fairness Principle: How The Veil Of Ignorance
Helps Test Fairness. [online] Available at: <[Link]
veil-ignorance/>.
Guy, C. (2020). East Asian Student Assaulted In ‘Racist’ Coronavirus
Attack In London. [online] CNN. Available at: <[Link]
com/2020/03/03/uk/coronavirus-assault-student-london-scli-intl-gbr/
[Link]?utm_content=2020-03-04T02%3A26%3A04&utm_
medium=social&utm_term=link&utm_source=fbCNN&fbclid=I-
wAR1QaE6t6mbi_qx_qhmR6hbIP7mriRsLZmXBjdLljq1ss1ho-
 For Review Only

Introduction 17

jq20q1a2q9E>.
[Link]. n.d. SPJ Code Of Ethics – Society Of Professional Journalists.
[online] Available at: <[Link]
WSJ. (2020). China Expels Three Wall Street Journal Reporters.
[online] Available at: <[Link]
china-expels-three-wall-street-journal-reporters-11582100355>.
 For Review Only

How
D i g i ta l i sat i o n
Transformed
the
Newsroom
 For Review Only
The Global Dominance of US Media 21

Ch a pte r 1
The Global Dominance of US Media

A broad picture of my time as a journalism major

in the USA and how that experience
opened my eyes to America’s influence in the world.

It was the July of 2007 when I departed Singapore for Chicago. The
night before, I laid awake in bed in my very familiar bedroom,
covered in familiar sheets, mired in feelings of intense trepidation. I
was afraid that the alarm would sound to signal the dying hours of
my time in Singapore. I was afraid of uprooting from the comfort
of my home, and leaving my parents for the longest period of time
since they brought me into this world. A confluence of factors had
also swayed me in my motivation to study abroad.

On 16 April 2007, Korean American Seung-Hui Cho killed 32

people and injured 17 others in the Virginia Tech massacre. There
was some concern, at least on my part, that there might be reprisals
against East Asian-looking people in the States. And then, there was
my aunt who was based in D.C., who passed away earlier that year.
Her presence there and her support were big factors in my decision to
study in the States. Her death spelt grief and uncertainty. But despite
these events, I soldiered on.
 For Review Only
22 Navigating Disruption

Before I left Singapore, I had yearned to ‘escape’ the city-state, and

toyed with the idea of embracing an Asian American identity instead
of Singaporean.

Between the months from post-National Service to the start of

freshman year, I had taken up a job as a writer for town council
and ministry publications. I was out trailing ministers and
Members of Parliament (MP) for block visits, meet-the-people
sessions, and citizenship ceremonies, among the many grassroots
events.

One day after interviewing an up-and-coming MP about a new

environmental community project, the man turned to me and asked:
“So are you planning to return to SG?”

I was very familiar with this MP as I had interviewed him on multiple

occasions as part of my work covering the town council’s activities.
During one of our conversations, I revealed that I was leaving
Singapore for overseas study.

“I hope not,” I replied. “I would prefer to work in the States, at least

for a couple of years.”

“You’ll be missing out,” he said. “There’s so much happening here.”

This was a period when the government was trying to create the
image of Singapore as a hip nightlife destination, replete with
bar-top dancing and the island’s inaugural Singapore Biennale art
exhibition.

The MP continued. “We are building the integrated resorts. And

next year, we’re going to be hosting the F1 night races. Singapore is
where you want to be.”
 For Review Only
The Global Dominance of US Media 23

One of his minders, a grey-haired senior grassroots leader, interjected

in a hushed tone: “There is still plenty of racism in the US,” he
said. “Don’t take my word for it, but it’s not going to be easy to be
accepted.”

The grassroots leader was a familiar face in the MPs’ weekend

activities with constituents. He was known to move around with
a slight limp, while relying on a walking stick. His words would
resound in my head as the day of departure grew closer.

Before I left Singapore for the States, I noticed a conspicuous surge

in the number of diverse faces throughout the city and on public
transport. It appeared as if Singapore had opened the flood gates to
foreigners. And, now, I was going to experience being in their shoes,
living life in a foreign land.

•••

I was born in the rural American town of Upland, Indiana, where my

parents’ life as a wedded couple began. Dad was a college student there,
and Mom decided to join him for an adventure of a lifetime. They got
married in a small church in 1983 and I was born two years later.

My family has long been rooted in Southeast Asia. My ancestors

settled in Borneo, Sumatra and Singapore for generations, after
leaving Xiamen, Kinmen and Shantou. Some married locals of
Peranakan heritage. Over the generations, my paternal and maternal
grandparents converged in Singapore.

My parents spoke English at home, as well as a smattering of Hokkien.

As such, growing up, I tended to avoid mixing with kids who spoke
Mandarin because I could not converse well with them. This led to
a slight disdain for the language and culture.
 For Review Only
24 Navigating Disruption

That changed when I experienced the sting of racism during my time

in the States. As a member of a minority, you learn about identity
and race very quickly because of how mainstream culture puts you
in a box. This happened day-to-day through a non-malicious form
of racism: being stereotyped as smart, hardworking, good with math
and science, and socially inept.

And then, there’s the in-your-face yelling and drive-by taunting using
racial slurs. It didn’t matter that I was Singaporean Chinese. I looked
East Asian and, therefore, Chinese. What I saw as Sinophobia was,
thus, unloaded upon me. One incident during a grocery shopping
trip stood out: while waiting in line to pay for our items at a crowded
supermarket, a middle-aged Caucasian stranger glared at myself and a
friend in disgust. He launched an expletive-laden tirade, yelling that
he “hated Chinese people”. He had probably overheard us speaking
in Mandarin.

I read about racism and race relations in US society, through blogs

such as Angry Asian Man, and film and TV content. Of course,
nothing beats actually having a taste of being singled out as the
‘Other’.

Despite all this, my time in the US was overwhelmingly positive. For

every negative encounter, there were many more positive experiences
with hospitable Americans from all walks of life, who impressed me
with their bountiful optimism and warmth.

My time overseas made me acutely aware of my skin colour and

racial identity. This is something that would be harder to learn
if one were to be part of the majority community. It helped me
to reconcile with my heritage by instilling a curiosity to find out
about China’s history, the global Chinese diaspora and my ancestral
roots.
 For Review Only
The Global Dominance of US Media 25

I also began to long for my home, Singapore, and naturally assumed

a role as an ambassador for the city-state.

Student journalism
My four years in college were spent mostly in print newsrooms. One
of the first things I did at Indiana University (IU) was to join the
campus newspaper, where I got to meet many of my peers who had
been exposed for years to reporting and editing. Some of these folks
swiftly became the stars of the newsroom, pushing out a high volume
of quality work.

My first stint at IU student media was as the city/state reporter,

where I covered news of the food donation drives and the Obama
fundraising efforts in Indiana. I would go on to hold a variety of
roles in campus publications, including writing a column and editing
the yearbook. Subsequently, I branched out from student media and
became an intern reporter for IU Alumni Magazine and major city
news broadsheets, the Herald-Times and the Courier-Journal. These
experiences gave me a platform to voice my opinions freely and
enabled me to meet Americans from all walks of life.

A striking memory of someone I interviewed was a director overseeing

the study abroad programmes. This was for a new scholarship to help
students go on overseas exchanges. She told me how her experience
going on an exchange programme opened her eyes to America’s
vast influence in the world. I was struck because it occurred to me,
there and then, that for Singaporeans who are based in the US,
we, conversely, learn how little Americans and the international
community knew about us.

“Is Singapore in China?”

“Do you have household appliances like washing machines?”

 For Review Only
26 Navigating Disruption

“Do your laws include chopping off the hands of thieves?”

These are just some of the questions posed to myself and fellow
Singaporeans. There was a huge deficit in knowledge and
understanding.

An Asian American peer of mine summed it up best. When I

mentioned in class that I was from Singapore, he quipped dismissively
that my country was one of those “unknown Asian countries”.

True enough. Fast forward to 2018: when President Donald Trump

met North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore, one of the top
Google searches was “Where is Singapore”.1

Cultural learnings: The difference between

Singaporeans and Americans
A critical difference between American and Singapore culture is
that Americans have a culture of openly expressing themselves, their
individualism, opinions, and protecting their rights and freedoms.
American society is an individualistic one, where the popular
narrative is that the individual can overcome the system.

In my four years of living in the US, it was not unusual for strangers to
strike up a conversation on public transport or greet one another. But
the flip side of this openness is that sometimes racist and sexist people
start to shoot their mouths and taunt and insult others. Women are
more likely to get sexually harassed on the streets; minorities have
to worry about being unfairly targeted because of their skin colour.

This was the case in 2001 following the 9/11 attacks, when Arab-
looking people were targeted for abuse, and in 2020 during the
COVID-19 pandemic when Asians were the victims of discrimination.
1
The Straits Times (2018).
 For Review Only
The Global Dominance of US Media 27

Collectivism vs Individualism
While Singapore may be known as a gateway between East and West,
its culture is collectivist. There is a bit of a herd mindset, wherein
people follow the well-defined path taken by many others, instead
of experimenting and being original. That said, each generation
defines its values, and it remains to be seen how Gen-Y and Gen-Z—
Singaporeans under 40—will transform society.

One reason for this general social difference is, perhaps, in Singapore’s
laws. While our founding leaders helped guide Singapore to be a
prosperous nation, they did so with policies that curtailed freedom of
expression. These include the Newspaper and Printing Press Act, the
Films Act and Broadcasting Act, which gives the government powers
to determine who could provide information to the masses.

For digital media, there is the Protection from Online Falsehoods and
Manipulation Act (POFMA)2 and the licensing framework implemented
in 2014 for news websites with a certain following and output. Some of
these websites were liable to “post a performance bond of $50,000” and
adhere to a code of conduct against publishing “pornographic content,
extremist messages and racially or religiously-insensitive content”.3

These regulations, while useful in ensuring that national interests

take priority, serves to engender a society reliant on tried-and-tested
conditions and a climate of sterility within the confines of the public
conversation.

Within the creative industry, I believe it has a limiting effect on the

range of production choices and the variety of creative output. The
government is known to clamp down on the expression of sensitive
topics like race, religion and politics, citing national interest to justify
its actions.
2
Details of POFMA in chapter 8
3
[Link] (2019).
 For Review Only
28 Navigating Disruption

In the case of Sonny Liew’s graphic novel The Art of Charlie Chan
Hock Chye, the National Arts Council withdrew a grant in 2015 prior
to the book’s launch because of politically sensitive material.4 With
Swedish black metal band, Watain, the Ministry of Home Affairs
cancelled its 2019 concert in Singapore at the last minute, citing
religious insensitivity.5 Later in 2019, the Singapore police gave
YouTuber Preetipls and her brother a warning for making a racially
offensive video in response to a ‘brown face’ e-payments ad.6

Such actions could have a chilling effect on the creative industry,

because it shows that the government can make things very difficult
for creatives if the content is judged to be against the regulations.
This sets up a barrier whereby creatives would rather self-censor than
freely express themselves, knowing that the government can destroy
their efforts at any stage, by cancelling and suspending licences,
fining companies and banning content.

At the street level, Singaporeans’ coffeeshop talk can be freewheeling

and critical of the government. But in an officious environment, I
believe we are inclined to be careful in choosing our words. I must
qualify by saying that aggrieved Singaporeans still speak up and
people do rally at Speakers’ Corner in Hong Lim Park.

Whereas in the United States, the US Constitution’s First Amendment

very clearly states that its Congress cannot make any laws curtailing
speech and the media.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of

religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging
the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people
peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a
redress of grievances.
4
Yong, C. (2019).
5
CNA (2019).
6
CNA (2019).
 For Review Only
The Global Dominance of US Media 29

This freedom is a foundation of American culture, which starts

from child-raising years. Parents typically treat their young child like
adults, reasoning with them about why they should not do certain
things. I have witnessed a second aunt of mine who is based in the
States taking tremendous pains to persuade my young nephew, her
son, on what is right and wrong, and never once talking down to
him. I cannot imagine a parent in Singapore making that effort.
They may instead use the pain of corporal punishment to keep the
young rascal in line.

I believe freedom to speak up and have a robust debate, without fear

of reprisals, is a key element in enabling a vibrant creative scene and
increasing soft power.

The global dominance of US media

American political scientist Joseph Nye, who is credited for coining
the term ‘soft power’, identified three areas as the source of soft power:
culture, political values and foreign policy. Freedom of expression is
derived from democracy and is a fundamental aspect of American
society, along with individualism and optimism. In my interactions
with Americans, I can say that validation and being positive comes
naturally to many. Ultimately, it is freedom of expression, I believe,
that is the backbone of the dominant American media industry,
whose films, TV dramas and music are so pervasive in global urban
culture.

We live in a world where culture is shaped by economic powers,

whose perspective and worldviews are spread through their news
outlets (e.g., The Associated Press, BBC, CNN, AFP and Reuters),
movies (Hollywood, anime) and music (American pop music,
K-pop). But there is no other nation that can match the might of
the United States in setting the tone of the stories we read and the
 For Review Only
30 Navigating Disruption

key messages that shape public opinion. The world’s sole superpower
triumphs over all other countries in setting the cultural tone with
media brands such as Disney (Marvel Cinematic Universe), HBO
(Game of Thrones), The New York Times and Netflix, among the big
names.

Film and television

The United States’ supersized role in the global media system can
be traced back to the late 1990s, with the rise of cable and satellite
technology. American media scholar Robert W. McChesney noted
that this was a period when the world saw a sea change in the media
ecosystem, shifting from national media systems to a ‘global oligopoly’
revolving around the US system. Since then, a consolidation akin to
that of the oil and automotive oligarchies has taken place, resulting
in the emergence of three major companies: Time Warner, News
Corporation and Disney.7

More than 20 years later, we still see Disney’s immense influence

in the global box office and in Singapore. According to a 2019
MarketLine report, “US-produced content dominates the box office
in Singapore, with all of the top 10 movies in 2018 being US-made.”
The leading player in the market is Walt Disney, which owns “five
out of the top 10 highest grossing movies at the Singaporean box
office in 2018”.8

As for television content, let me borrow an analogy from Chinese-

Malaysian stand-up comedian Ronny Chieng: in a digital video with
YouTubers Fung Brothers, he shared about how he was thrilled to get
on US television because “TV in America is like the NBA of TV,” an
analogy to the professional basketball ecosystem where NBA is the
highest of global leagues.9
7
Thussu, D. (2010).
8
MarketLine (2019).
9
Fung Bros (2019).
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The Global Dominance of US Media 31

_
Rising voices around the world
There are exceptions in Asia and beyond. The Korean film industry
found validation with Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite clinching the Academy
Award for Best Picture in 2020; K-pop, too, has somewhat eclipsed
American pop music in many Asian and non-US markets. Bollywood
is still probably bigger in India than Hollywood films. Japanese video
games and anime/manga—Sanrio and the Pokémon franchises—has
a huge international appeal. Nigeria has a fledgling movie industry.
And China, with hit drama Story of Yanxi Palace and the film
Wandering Earth, has shown the world that it can export its content
to a regional audience and science-fiction mega blockbusters can
also be made in Asia.

Among news providers, Qatar’s Al Jazeera has done a good job

pushing the Middle Eastern perspective. China’s CGTN and China Daily
have been trying to build up a positive reputation of the mainland,
while Russia Today has stood up as an alternative voice among the
American broadcast news media voices.

The creative community’s role

It is easy to argue that the US’s position as the world’s sole superpower
gives it immense leverage to influence world affairs and shape public
opinion. But that is just half the story. What I think cannot avoid
mentioning is the role of the American creative community in
fuelling innovation. I believe freedom of expression fuels creativity,
and creativity fuels innovation, and the country is rich in innovative
companies such as Apple, Google, Facebook, Tesla and SpaceX,
among others.

I think Joseph Nye says it best when he quoted a French foreign

minister’s observation that Americans are powerful because they
 For Review Only
32 Navigating Disruption

“inspire the dreams and desires of others, thanks to the mastery of

global images through film and television”. High-profile creatives
around the world are known to have drawn inspiration from the
United States, including big-time film directors like Bong Joon-ho
and Wong Kar-wai. As the rest of the world fights for a slice of the
pie in the global media and entertainment scene, the US will remain
a creative benchmark.

References
CNA (2019). Watain concert cancelled based on Christian communi-
ty’s reaction after initial approval. [online] Available at: [Link]
[Link]/news/singapore/watain-concert-cancelled-chris-
tian-community-reaction-shanmugam-11399434.
CNA (2019). Preetipls and Subhas Nair given conditional
warning for ‘offensive’ rap video: Police. [online] Available
at: [Link]
preetipls-subhas-nair-conditional-warning-rap-video-police-11807422.
Fung Bros (2019). Michelin Star DIM SUM w/ RONNY CHIENG from
The Daily Show w/ Trevor Noah. [video] Available at: [Link]
[Link]/watch?v=n9Gl1hBgjIU.
[Link]. (2019). Factually. [online] Available at: [Link]
factually/content/what-is-the-licensing-framework-for-online-news-
sites-all-about?fbclid=IwAR3mQwrDlmsWXOGv_f7_k6WRHmk-
gMmRP2ajtMLSoYcro_qwRH4EMPUbcUxE.
MarketLine (2019). Movies & Entertainment In Singapore. MarketLine
Industry Profile. MarketLine, p.25.
The Straits Times (2018). ‘Where is Singapore?’: Trump-Kim summit a
public relations coup for tiny city state. [online] Available at: https://
[Link]/asia/se-asia/where-is-singapore-trump-kim-sum-
mit-a-public-relations-coup-for-tiny-city-state.
Yong, C. (2019). NAC pulled grant from comic as it ‘potentially under-
mines the authority of the Government’. The Straits Times. [online]
 For Review Only
The Global Dominance of US Media 33

Available at: [Link]

from-comic-as-it-potentially-undermines-the-authority-of-the-govern-
ment.
Thussu, D. (2010). International Communication. London: Routledge,
pp.188–189 and 196–197.
 For Review Only
34 Navigating Disruption

Ch a pte r 2
The Road to Louisville, Kentucky

My journalism advocacy work for the Asian and Asian

American student community helped me secure a scholarship
and newspaper internship in Louisville, Kentucky. There,
I witnessed a dark chapter in my paper’s legacy.

The glass facade of Indiana University’s Assembly Hall gleamed in

the late morning sun, as thousands of graduating seniors packed the
17,000-seater indoor stadium,1 along with proud family and friends.
The iconic venue is known as the home of Indiana basketball and
hosts the university’s competitive NCAA basketball games, among
other sporting meets. But on the morning of 7 May, this venue was
the site of the 2011 summer commencement ceremony.

That day, I stood among my peers from the school of journalism

and recited the pledge of allegiance as well as sang to the “The
Star-Spangled Banner”, before receiving my certificate. On the
same night, I crashed on the sofa in a friend’s apartment. The lease
on my campus apartment ended when I switched from being a
student to alumni, rendering me temporarily homeless. I would

1
Seating capacity of Indiana University’s Assembly Hall in 2011 was 17,472 (Hutchens, T., 2016).
 For Review Only
The Road to Louisville, Kentucky 35

have slept in my car, but it was filled to the brim with my furniture
and household items, following a three-hour drive to Louisville,
Kentucky.

I was on the cusp of a new life as an intern reporter for a big-city

newspaper, the Courier-Journal (CJ), and was due to leave my
campus home of four years the very next morning. The weeks prior
to graduation day were a frenetic period for me, as I coped with final
papers and projects as well as planning for the big move.

The CJ had a more than 150-year legacy as the premium regional

source of news, for both Kentucky and southern Indiana. Getting
selected for this internship was one of the milestones in my
college career, as the newspaper was known for attracting talented
individuals from across the region. The internship would be the most
rewarding working experience in my four years in the US, because
it would be the first time moving out of the college environment of
Bloomington, Indiana for an extended period, and getting to know
a new community up close.

Louisville: the city of the steed

Compared to my college town (well, technically, a city) of
Bloomington, Louisville seemed like a metropolis—a city of over
a million residents. Its most famous resident was boxing legend
Muhammad Ali. There is even a Muhammad Ali Center, a museum
memorialising the boxer.

The city is also known for being the home of Yum! Brands, parent
company of fast-food chain Kentucky Fried Chicken. Most notably,
though, is the city’s love for horses, because of the annual Kentucky
Derby horse race.
 For Review Only
36 Navigating Disruption

Over the course of three months in Louisville, I would grow familiar

and fond of the city both through my leisure explorations and
work assignments. One stormy night, I was sent to video record
damage done to Churchill Downs, the iconic venue of the Kentucky
Derby, when a tornado struck the site. I had stayed past office hours
working on a story, when the newsroom received a tip-off that the
famous venue had been damaged. The editor marched to my desk,
interrupting me while I had earphones plugged in to music and in
the midst of drafting a story. With one foot planted on my desk, he
leaned forward and gave me instructions to do a drive-around and
filming of Churchill Downs.

Armed with a handheld video recorder (mobile video functions

weren’t as souped-up then), I drove into the ‘danger zone’ aided by
my GPS. Sirens were blaring in the area, a warning for residents
to stay indoors. The streets were sparse and dimly lit. Louisville’s
streets are never that busy, even during peak hours. That night, the
vehicles out in full force were mostly fire trucks and police cars.
I saw trees that were felled by the strong winds, and several areas
cordoned off. As I drove alongside the venue I could barely see the
damage to Churchill Downs. The conspicuous spire structures were
intact. I would later learn that it was the barn roof housing the
horses that were damaged.2

My video was subsequently posted on CJ’s Twitter account. It was

a poor recording attempt, because I was not able to capture any
significant damage. To do so, one would have to be airborne to
see damage to the barn. The local TV news channel, WLKY News
Louisville, was able to film this via helicopter footage.3 Nevertheless,
I relished bringing out my camera to supplement my written reports,
and it helped increase my profile among the editors.
2
Reuters (2011).
3
WLKY News Louisville (2011).
 For Review Only
The Road to Louisville, Kentucky 37

After I filed stories, I would sit at the photo desk office through
the night to edit a 2–3 minute clip to complement the story for
the website. This wasn’t asked of me, but I did it as a means of
practising what I had learned during my mobile journalism course
in Vanderbilt University. Little did I know that this would help me
when I eventually went into broadcast news when I returned to
Singapore.

Chips Quinn Scholars Program for Diversity in Journalism

The road to Louisville started with my advocacy work as a student
journalist, shining the spotlight on Asian and Asian American issues.
As part of the internship, I was also awarded a scholarship with a
partnering programme, the Chips Quinn Scholars Program for
Diversity in Journalism. The scholarship made it possible for me to
work in Louisville by offering a comfortable salary for the duration
of the internship as well as a week-long mobile journalism training
at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. The programme is
an effort to increase diversity in American newsrooms. I believe I was
selected because of an interest in covering Asian and Asian American
issues in the student community, as was evident in my portfolio of
journalism work.

Nashville, Tennessee is a city that I immediately fell in love with. I was

among a batch 23 scholars who were there from 15–24 May in 2011.4
We called ourselves Chipsters. The training sessions were structured
like university journalism programmes, only more intensive. Every day
we’d attend lectures by industry leaders and experienced journalists,
many who were alumni of the Chips Quinn programme. The lectures
were followed by practical exercises that saw students venture out to
the city to do actual reporting, applying the skills learned. We’d go
out and tweet, blog and film interesting happenings around the city,
4
[Link] (2011).
 For Review Only
38 Navigating Disruption

including approaching people on the streets, to request for interviews.

Each day of the programme was an adventure.

The summer 2011 batch of Chips Quinn scholars. I am fourth from the left in the back row.
(Photo courtesy of the Freedom Forum, 2011.)

Nashville is a city steeped in arts and culture, and widely known

as the home of country music. It also has a vibrant nightlife scene,
filled with bars playing live music. When I was there, the likeness
of Elvis Presley was found in every corner and it was hard to miss
folks wearing cowboy boots and hats. Of all the US cities I visited,
Nashville felt like the real America—the heartland of this great
country.

Having the company of my fellow Chipsters—these young,

passionate minority journalists—made the experience that much
more special. The gang would go gallivanting after class to tour
the city and its many nightspots; other nights we’d congregate at a
designated Chipster’s room for a get-together. My roommate was an
African American Chipster, who’d go on to roles such as the Editor
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The Road to Louisville, Kentucky 39

for Sports Illustrated and, presently, as Director of Digital Sports

for the Philadelphia Inquirer. Both of us had a shared passion for
basketball and we’d catch the broadcast of NBA games after class.

Giving Asians and Asian Americans a voice

My time in college was split between two key areas: my journalism
work and my advocacy work in Asian and Asian American student
affairs.

Understanding the Asian American experience was my way of

learning more about this new culture and community I was a part
of. Too often, people outside of America see a version of US culture
that reflects merely that of white and black America. But the country
is so much more: it is a societal melting pot that includes Latinos,
Native Americans and Pacific Islanders.

The Asian American experience is unique in its history and issues

affecting the community. For example, a generation of Asian
Americans who are baby-boomers and older would remember the
Japanese American internment during World War II. Those in the
generation after that—the Gen-X-ers—would be familiar with the
murder of Vincent Chin in 1982, who was bludgeoned by folks
who initially assumed he was Japanese. At the time, there was
tension between the US and Japan, with Americans fearing their
economy would get upstaged by rising Japanese manufacturing
prowess.

From the mid-1980s to the 1990s, there was an influx of immigrants

from Asia that were typically highly educated and skilled.5 These
were the medical doctors, academic researchers, IT engineers and
so on. This created a ‘model minority’ stereotype that exists in the
5
Barringer, F. (1990).
 For Review Only
40 Navigating Disruption

US public consciousness. As I write this in December 2019, Asian

American entertainers and former US presidential candidate, Andrew
Yang, would continue to leverage the model minority stereotype to
connect with audiences.6

While the model minority is a positive stereotype, it puts undue

psychological stress and pressure on Asian youth who are not
successful and not inclined to perform well in math or science.7 It also
disadvantages the Asian sub-groups—i.e. the Hmong, Cambodian
and Vietnamese—that are not as well-off, in that they may get left
behind for aid and other forms of government and charitable support
because they get lumped under the ‘model minority’ label.

Asian representation in US media

Unlike Singapore, US media is very much run by private interests,
and content that sells is what keeps getting produced. This seemingly
unfettered media environment can create inequality in culture and
public opinion, because narratives that hinge on stereotypes are
pushed out on steroids.

In Singapore’s controlled media environment, there is a healthy

dichotomy of Asian and Western cultural products, and children
are raised in an environment where they have role models in their
own ethnic communities. Each race has its vernacular media outlets
catered to them, with the goal of achieving positive socialisation into
Singapore society.

US media has had a history of poor representations of Asians on

the big screen, right up to recent years. Asian representation in
US popular culture and entertainment have tended to play up the
exoticism and uglier stereotypes of Asians. Characters tend to be
6
South China Morning Post (2019).
7
Teo, B. (2009).
 For Review Only
The Road to Louisville, Kentucky 41

foreign, and menacing for men (Fu Manchu and angry kung fu
fighters), while overtly sexual for women (prostitutes and subservient
love interests).

Things have somewhat evolved, thanks to advocacy by Asian

Americans to reflect their representation more positively. I was thrilled
that a major Hollywood studio would bankroll a film like Crazy Rich
Asians, casting an Asian male as the romantic lead. On American
TV, you’ll find television productions where they’ll intentionally cast
Asian characters in more progressive roles, but the efforts are few
and far between. Even in recent times, there’s still the scourge of
‘yellowface’ and ‘whitewashing’, with major studios still thinking it
is okay to produce big-budget movies such as 2012’s Cloud Atlas,8
2015’s Aloha and 2017’s Ghost in the Shell.9

In the above-mentioned Hollywood films, characters who are Asian in

origin are played by white characters. This is known as ‘whitewashing’.
I can only speculate that the decision to do so was because the studio
executives probably thought that casting a white actor would have a
more mass-market appeal. In the case of Cloud Atlas, the white actors
had facial prosthetics in several scenes, particularly in the eyes, to
make them look Asian. Those scenes were repulsive. I tried to give
the film a chance, but I had to stop midway as I could not stomach
the ‘yellowface’ scenes. I can only imagine the uproar if the character
was black and a white actor had done ‘blackface’ instead. The African
American community would be up in arms.

Being Asian in America

As one of the smallest minority groups in the US, Asian voices
and representation in popular culture is often lacking. Walking the
streets of most American cities, seeing an Asian face on billboards
8
[Link] (2013).
9
Lee, E. (2019).
 For Review Only
42 Navigating Disruption

and public ad spaces are rare. And every time I spot an Asian face on
an advertisement, it would pique my interest because it is just such
a novelty.

Popular culture aside, America under the Obama administration was

an exciting time for Asian Americans, as the number of Asians in the
US cabinet swelled, with a record representation: there was former
Ambassador to China and Secretary of Commerce, Gary Locke;
Cabinet Secretary, Christopher Lu; Energy Secretary, Steven Chu;
and Secretary of Veteran Affairs, Eric Shinseki. But this has almost
been reversed in President Trump’s White House.

In the fields of business, science and technology, Asian Americans

have done exceedingly well. Silicon Valley is known to rely on the
skills of a large Asian and Asian American workforce, but their stories
are rarely in the national headlines.

In entertainment and sports, basketballer Jeremy Lin fired up

Asians all over the world by leading the New York Knicks’ brief
winning streak known as ‘Linsanity’, while social media brought a
new generation of young Asian American stars into the public eye.
YouTube, in particular, became a platform for comedy sketches,
music and acting talent to connect with their audiences. I share more
about this phenomenon in chapter 5.

•••

Still, the stories of Asian Americans making strides are rarely told
in mainstream media, and many of the injustices in society do not
get the attention needed. Hence, I wanted to be an advocate for
publicising issues related to Asian and Asian Americans and served as
a committee member of the university’s Asian American Association,
overseeing communication and public relations.
 For Review Only
The Road to Louisville, Kentucky 43

For a year, I also worked part-time at the office of the Asian American
studies programme, where I helped raise awareness of the academic
course. As part of the efforts, I was involved with bringing in Chinese
American MSNBC news anchor, Richard Lui, to be the keynote
speaker during the Asian American heritage month. In my youth,
I had seen Richard present the news on Channel NewsAsia briefly.
Thus, I pitched to the university administrators to have him come to
Bloomington, to share more about diversity in America.

Meanwhile, in my work as a journalist, I covered a 2009 assault and

robbery case on a group of Korean students on campus. I was then an
intern reporter for the Herald-Times, Bloomington city’s newspaper
of record. The incident had alarmed the student community, but the
sentiment among students was that the authorities were not putting
in enough resources to catch the culprits, who were still at large.

I remember attending a town hall meeting organised by the police

community relations team, which was held to assure the students
that justice would be done. I interviewed students who expressed
their concerns and pressed for more police action. While I knew I
had to write a balanced piece, my goal was to raise awareness of the
attacks and I interviewed multiple students to capture their voices.

As a columnist for the Indiana Daily Student, I highlighted the

ill-effects of the model minority stereotype, one of them being the
higher-than-average rate of suicides among Asian Americans in US
colleges. My column was based on a study by Cornell University. To
corroborate the findings, I interviewed a Singaporean professor of
counseling psychology, Joel Wong, who shared:

“Asian-Americans may have elevated levels of perfectionism and

this creates undue pressure to do well in college. This is a result
of number one: expectations of others, including classmates
 For Review Only
44 Navigating Disruption

and parents; and number two: pressure when it (the belief ) is

internalized—Asian Americans setting unduly high standards
for themselves.”

These are just some of my stories covering the Asian community in

the US. Where possible, I would always take the opportunity to pitch
Asian-related stories for whichever paper I was with.

At the Courier-Journal I wrote one a whole range of topics, but

business stories seemed to be my forte. My byline appeared on stories
about small-and-medium enterprises, property and the electricity
market. When I had the opportunity to work on a feature story, I
decided to write about Asian markets in the city of Louisville. My
reporting noted that there was an increase in ethnic Asian business,
which represented a growing trend of Asian immigrants into the
Louisville community.

This was a fun story and I enjoyed going to the different markets to
recce and to interview the business owners, starting with the oldest.
I did some research, interviewed a representative of the Kentucky
chapter of the Organization of Chinese Americans, and discovered
that this title belonged to Dixie Oriental Food and Gifts Market, a
Korean-owned shop.

While I do not know exactly what impact my stories had on the

community, I was just glad that I was able to provide coverage of a
minority group that was usually marginalised by mainstream media.

Layoffs hit the CJ

The internship in Louisville opened my eyes to the cold, harsh
reality of the corporate world. Within a month into my internship,
I would witness a retrenchment exercise unfold in front of my eyes
in the CJ newsroom.
 For Review Only
The Road to Louisville, Kentucky 45

On 21 June 2011, some 50 employees of the CJ were laid off,

including half this number from the newsroom. 10 In one fell
swoop, the soon-to-be retrenched staff members were called into
the office that morning and asked to pack up and leave the same
day.

From my desk, I could see colleagues getting summoned to the

human resources department. I noticed some returning to their
seats later, visibly troubled. I remember turning to a fellow intern
in the newsroom and gesturing at her as if saying, “What on earth is
happening?” She looked back quizzically and shrugged.

The tension and bitterness in the office became palpable when we

could hear sobbing from the far reaches of the office. And then it
became obvious that people were getting laid off when those directly
around me were affected.

One colleague, an African American lady seated a couple of desks

behind me, started bawling at her desk as she packed her belongings.

An Asian gentleman—a management executive with a bigger window

office—was also seen packing. I realised this when a colleague entered
his office to wish him well. I vaguely remember him taking down a
painting of a horse from his wall.

On that day, the digital team sent a cryptic tweet noting that it was a
dark day at the newsroom. I followed the CJ on Twitter and noticed
the tweet on the official Twitter handle, a rare post reporting the
inner working of the newsroom as opposed to what’s happening in
the world. The newspaper had become the news. From the smiles
that typically greeted me in the office, the newsroom had become a
morose environment.
10
Gannett to lay off 700 newspaper workers. (2011).
 For Review Only
46 Navigating Disruption

•••

A town hall meeting was called at the newsroom later in the afternoon,
after the retrenched staff had left. And I got to see the man who
would face the ‘mob’—then-president and publisher of the CJ.

Murmurs of disgruntlement rippled through the staff gathered for

the address.

While I don’t remember what he said exactly, I recall the publisher’s

poise and bluster, as he faced off some angry reactions from the
crowd calling out corporate greed.

A clue as to what the publisher conveyed can be found in a memo

to CJ staff that day, citing a letter from the president of parent
company Gannett’s publishing division. According to The New
York Times’ Media Decoder blog, this letter flagged “disappointing
midyear advertising figures” as the reason behind the layoffs
sweeping Gannett’s newspapers, including Louisville’s:

“As we reach the midpoint of the year, the economic

recovery is not happening as quickly or favorably as we had
hoped and continues to impact our U.S. community media
organizations… With many of our local advertisers reducing
their overall budgets, we need to take further steps to align our
costs with the current revenue trends.”11

As of late 2019, the CJ remains unchallenged as the city’s paper

of record and an integral part of the Kentucky community. But it
certainly felt like things were going south in the summer of 2011. A
fresh graduate at the time, the experience was like being doused by
the cold, harsh realities of the working world, and in particular, that
of the journalism industry. It certainly showed me that there was no
11
Peters, J. (2011).
 For Review Only
The Road to Louisville, Kentucky 47

such thing as an iron rice bowl and that the corporate world is subject
to disruption and may not always prevail. Employees are expendable.
Job security is a thing of the past. That idea of finding a good job in
a good company, and staying there till retirement, does not apply to
today’s economy.

The summer 2011 layoffs were a harbinger of the more tough

times yet for the media industry all around the world, as well as in
Singapore.

References
Barringer, F. (1990). Asian Population in U.S. Grew by 70% in the 80s.
The New York Times. [online] Available at: [Link]
com/1990/03/02/us/asian-population-in-us-grew-by-70-in-the-80-s.
html.
Gannett to lay off 700 newspaper workers. (2011). Retrieved from
[Link]
[Link]
Hutchens, T. (2016). Newly renovated Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall
dedicated in ceremony Friday. The Herald Bulletin. [online] Available
at: [Link]
mon-skjodt-assembly-hall-dedicated-in-ceremony-friday/article_
[Link].
Lee, E. (2019). The Evolution of Chinese and Asian Faces in Hollywood.
[online] Voice of America. Available at: [Link]
arts-culture/evolution-chinese-and-asian-faces-hollywood.
[Link]. (2013). MANAA Asserts Offensive Use of Yellowface
Make-Up and Exclusion of Asian Actors In The Film “Cloud Atlas” –
MANAA. [online] Available at: [Link]
Peters, J. (2011). Revenue Still Down, Gannett Lays Off 700 Employees.
Retrieved from [Link]
revenue-still-down-gannett-lays-off-700-employees/
 For Review Only
48 Navigating Disruption

[Link] (2011). Freedom Forum Names 23 Chips Quinn

Scholars for Summer 2011 Internship Program. [online] Available
at: [Link]
names-23-chips-quinn-scholars-for-summer-2011-internship-pro-
[Link].
Reuters (2011). Apparent tornado causes damage at Churchill Downs.
[online] Available at: [Link]
do-churchilldowns/apparent-tornado-causes-damage-at-church-
ill-downs-idUSTRE75M0JN20110623.
South China Morning Post (2019). Asian-Americans bristle at stereotypes
as Andrew Yang says he ‘knows a lot of doctors’. [online] Available
at: [Link]
article/3027545/asian-americans-bristle-stereotypes-andrew-yang.
Teo, B. (2009). Model Minority and Tragic Suicides. Indiana
Daily Student. [online] Available at: [Link]
article/2009/03/model-minorities-and-tragic-suicides.
WLKY News Louisville (2011). SG Search Avatar image 0:02 / 3:02
Barns, Stable Buildings Damaged At Churchill Downs. [video]
Available at: [Link]
 For Review Only
204

About the Author

Bertrand Teo spent a decade as a journalist

and public relations manager. Born in Upland,
Indiana, and raised in Singapore, Bertrand
completed his undergraduate studies in
journalism at Indiana University Bloomington,
renowned for having one of the top journalism
schools in the United States.

During his time in the US, Bertrand interned as a reporter for two
metropolitan daily newspapers and as a writer for his university’s
alumni magazine. On returning to Singapore, he worked as a news
producer for the nightly prime time television news bulletins, before
transitioning to corporate communications in the public and private
sectors.

Bertrand wrote this book while studying for his Master’s degree
at Nanyang Technological University’s Wee Kim Wee School of
Communication and Information. He has an interest in digital
mediapreneurship and the creative industry in Singapore.

Read more of his thoughts on Singapore media and culture on

[Link]: