Welcome to Singapore and congratulations on setting up the Singapore bureau for Ticker! Tell us more about your role?
Thank you - it’s great to be in Singapore!

I host my own program every day, covering breaking news, current affairs and geopolitical news across Asia and beyond. Ticker loves to shine a spotlight on stories of human achievement in business, tech and media. I really enjoy getting to interview forward-thinking entrepreneurs and telling the stories of cutting-edge start-ups. At Ticker, we don’t just want to inform our viewers, but empower them.

What did you do before arriving in Singapore?
Prior to this role, I spent over two years as a Foreign Correspondent based in New Zealand’s parliamentary press gallery for Sky News Australia. I had some great opportunities, including six one-on-one interviews with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. I also got to travel to more than half a dozen countries in the Asia Pacific region covering political summits and prime ministerial visits (pre-pandemic, of course).

How will you position this overseas bureau and how will it contribute to news content and branding?
The Singapore bureau will play a key role in providing in-depth coverage and analysis of what’s happening in Asia. I want to be interviewing leading newsmakers, politicians and businesspeople from the region as much as I can. 

How would you characterise your audience? Are you reporting for Australians or an international / Singapore-based audience?
Ticker has a global professional millennial audience. They tend to be curious about global issues and the impact on their work and lives.

What are some of the stories you’ll be keeping an eye on over the next 12 months?
I’m curious about how countries will emerge from the pandemic, and the ways in which the world, and parts of everyday life, will be permanently changed by COVID-19. Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong expects COVID-19 to become endemic. He says “in this new normal, we will have to learn to carry on with our lives even with the virus in our midst.”

I'm also really looking forward to the Tokyo Olympics. That's if the Games go ahead, of course!

How should a PR professional best collaborate with you?
Send me an email (jackson@tickernews.co) and we can go from there. We love covering the future of tech, innovation, cool business stories, cryptocurrency trends and more.

On a personal level, how have you found moving to Singapore?
I have been in Singapore for seven weeks now, which has included four weeks of lockdown-like restrictions. It has hindered my ability to meet people and has prevented me from being able to fully immerse myself in the local culture. But it has allowed me to go on lots of solo bike rides and walks! And I’m just grateful to be living in a country that takes the virus seriously.