Communication Lessons from Media Professionals

Whether you are looking for an easy read or for tips from the pros to bring to life the theories taught in communication classes, COMversations offers a starting point – and an Asian one too.

COMversations gives an inside look at how professionals handle the inevitable myriad of variables and unexpected twists and turns in both life and in people. These are lessons in career and life from those who are at the top of their game. Starting with the belief that learning goes way beyond the classroom, the book highlights the professionals’ work in print, radio, TV and social media in places like SPH, MediaCorp, Reuters, Bloomberg, CNN, CNBC and Fox Sports Asia.

• One was tasked to serve as moderator for an in-conversation style interview with former US President Barack Obama
• Another, eying a job with CNN, was told by the international broadcaster, “Fly to London for the interview and we will give you 5 minutes to impress us.”
• Yet another, with years of global exposure working for Reuters and Bloomberg, grows from his share of cultural snafus.
• A fourth, working as a foreign correspondent based in Jakarta, regales us with tales of journalistic enterprise.

For all four – former Nominated Member of Parliament Nicholas Fang, Channel NewsAsia’s newscaster Jill Neubronner, Bloomberg’s business editor Edwin Chan and Straits Times’ regional correspondent Arlina Arshad – their communication journeys have been not only colourful but also instructional. Yet these journeys are often untold in part because media folks are in the business of telling other people’s stories instead.

COMversations is a small step to plug this glaring gap. It tells the stories of Nicholas, Jill, Edwin and Arlina – alongside those of four other media pros. They are Fox Sports Asia’s presenter Colette Wong, Storyteller Productions’ CEO Divian Nair, Splice Media’s CEO Alan Soon and Chua Chin Hon, who was Straits Times bureau chief first in China and then USA.

• Hear what Colette has learnt from interviews with some of the biggest names in sports, including Swiss legend Roger Federer.
• Consider Divian’s take on what it means to shift communication style as he interviews diverse personalities.
• Learn a thing or two as Chin Hon shares about the differences between USA and China when it comes to reporting at the ground level.
• Soak in the details as Alan shares how he moves seamlessly (or so it seems) from role to role in various media groups.

This book also includes a special feature with Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, Singapore’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, who shares his communication style in a range of contexts with students from Nanyang Business School at NTU.

COMversations: Communication Lessons from Media Professionals retails for US$28 / £20 (paperback) and US$68 / £55 (hardcover) and is also available in electronic formats. To order or know more about the book, visit http://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/12758.

###

About the Author

A former Straits Times journalist and Asia correspondent for PHP International (Japan), Chua Chong Jin teaches at Nanyang Business School in the Nanyang Technology University, Singapore. Educated at the National University of Singapore and Cambridge University in UK, he engages industry practitioners actively to add value to his students’ learning.

About World Scientific Publishing Co.

World Scientific Publishing is a leading international independent publisher of books and journals for the scholarly, research and professional communities. World Scientific collaborates with prestigious organisations like the Nobel Foundation and US National Academies Press to bring high quality academic and professional content to researchers and academics worldwide. The company publishes about 600 books and over 140 journals in various fields annually. To find out more about World Scientific, please visit www.worldscientific.com.

For more information, contact WSPC Communications at [email protected]