Transgender Singaporean journalist Gina Chua, with over two decades of experience in the industry, has recently been appointed executive editor at Reuters, one of the world’s largest news agencies.
Ms Chua, who transitioned late last year, is one of the most prominent ‘out’ trans women from Singapore and also one of the most senior trans journalists in the industry.
In a statement on Wednesday (21 Apr), Reuters editor-in-chief, Alessandra Galloni said that Ms Chua “has been instrumental in the creation of world-class data and graphics teams, built an industry-leading safety, security and mental health system and driven development of a range of new newsroom tools” throughout her time at Reuters in the last decade.
Among her contributions at Reuters are the conception and monitoring of the development of Connected China, an immersive data visualisation and site that tracks power in China.
In her “newly-created role” based in New York, Ms Chua will bear the task of leading technology initiatives around new forms of reporting, broadening Reuters’ file, and delivering more relevant reporting to new and existing customers.
This is on top of continuing to oversee areas such as editorial operations, budgets, administration, safety, and security, said Reuters.
Previously, Ms Chua held the role of editor-in-chief of the South China Morning Post.
Prior to that, she was a senior editor at The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) in New York. Her 16-year career at The WSJ began as a correspondent in Manila. She also set up the paper’s Hanoi bureau and eventually became the longest-serving editor of its Asian edition.
Ms Chua then moved to New York, where she served as the WSJ’s Deputy Managing Editor.
She was also with The Straits Times’ Foreign Desk as a correspondent in the Philippines from Jan 1992 to Jun 1993.
Ms Chua also wrote and produced commentaries and programs for radio and television during her time at the Singapore Broadcasting Corporation from 1985 to 1987.
The co-founder of the Sigma Data Journalism Awards graduated with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from the University of Chicago and a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University.
Other than practicing journalism, Ms Chua has also taught graduate- and undergraduate-level classes and short training courses on the business models of journalism, computer-assisted reporting, and numeracy at New York University, Hong Kong University, and Nanyang Technological University.
Touching on her new position as Reuters’ new executive editor, Ms Chua said: “I’m excited to take on this new role supporting Alessandra and the newsroom to continue producing outstanding journalism, modernize our capabilities, and grow our audience and businesses.”
“We stand poised at the edge of multiple opportunities to expand the reach of our journalists and journalism,” she added.
