SINGAPORE: The Straits Times’ editor Warren Fernandez has been named chief executive officer of Edelman’s Asia-Pacific region, the global communications firm said on Tuesday (Oct 18).
Mr Fernandez will take on the role from Oct 25, to oversee the region’s 21 offices and more than 1,300 employees.
The news comes a week after SPH Media Group, which publishes The Straits Times, announced Mr Fernandez’s departure from both The Straits Times and as editor-in-chief of the English/Malay/Tamil Media (EMTM) group.
He will be replaced by Jaime Ho, the former chief editor of CNA Digital.
“Warren’s deep understanding of the news and media ecosystem … will be a tremendous value-add to clients and our own insights and capabilities,” said Edelman’s global president and COO Matthew Harrington.
A Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) scholar, Mr Fernandez first joined ST in 1990, becoming news editor, foreign editor and deputy editor during his first stint at the paper.
He left in 2008 to take on a management role at Royal Dutch Shell before returning as the paper’s editor in 2012. He became EMTM group editor-in-chief in 2016.
Mr Fernandez said he was “very excited to join a firm that I have admired and worked with, as a client and partner, over the years”.
“I look forward to leading the team in Asia-Pacific and working with the industry-leading talent across its global network,” he added.