BT senior correspondent Ben Paul wins Singapore Press Club finance journalism award

[SINGAPORE] The Business Times’ senior correspondent Ben Paul won the Finance Journalism Award at the fifth Singapore Press Club Awards on Wednesday (Jul 15) night.

This award, sponsored by CLA Global TS, recognises journalists who show commitment to finance reporting through insightful coverage and clear explanations of complex market developments.

The Singapore Press Club described Paul as “one of Singapore’s best-known financial commentators”.

It added that his Mark To Market (M2M) series provides “deep, credible analysis that readers trust” and has built a strong following among investors.

M2M runs as both a weekly column and a monthly podcast focused on Singapore’s markets and listed companies.

Over the past year, Paul’s work has focused on efforts to revive the Singapore stock market.

He highlighted the need for companies to communicate their strategic plans more clearly and for better local investor education on faster-growing, riskier technology stocks.

BT editor Chen Huifen said that Paul’s work gets the investment community talking through “concrete, sometimes contrarian ideas”. This includes his proposal that fund managers push companies to pay independent directors partly in shares.

Chen added that the award affirms the “credibility Paul has built through his M2M column and podcast and the trust BT has earned with the market over the years”. 

Paul, who has been a journalist for 25 years, said the recognition was “very gratifying and encouraging”, adding that it validates the work of everyone at BT.

Reflecting on the role of financial journalism, he said: “The financial numbers of companies, if they are accurately reported with some context and analysis, can be a useful counterweight to their carefully crafted narratives and provide the market with a fuller picture of what is happening.”

Paul is among eight winners who received their awards at a ceremony held at the Pan Pacific Singapore hotel.

In a speech at the event, Second Minister for Finance Indranee Rajah highlighted that with the rise of artificial intelligence, journalism and communications “remain, at their core, a craft”.

“No algorithm can substitute for the years spent understanding a beat, building sources, and learning how an industry or a policy actually works.”

A reporter who has covered a local healthcare system for a decade, for instance, would “ask a different question than one relying on a search engine”.

“The power of the written word, the lyricism of a phrase, the crispness of a sentence and the ability to inform, enlighten and to move hearts and minds should remain irrevocably in your hands – or at least at your fingertips as you touch the keyboards,” Indranee added.

Extending her congratulations to the evening’s winners and Hall of Fame inductees, she said that their “achievements set the standard for excellence in the profession”.

This year, the Singapore Press Club received a record 77 nominations in three categories: rising stars, specialist journalism awards and the Hall of Fame award. 

Other winners included The Straits Times’ Cherie Lok, who won the Young Journalist Award, and Stephanie Adeline, who received the Young Digital Journalist Award.

ST’s Joyce Teo won the Health and Wellness Journalism Award while Lianhe Zaobao’s Chua Wei Qian received the Sustainability Journalism Award. 

Launched in 2022 to mark the Singapore Press Club’s 50th anniversary, the annual awards recognise practitioners in journalism, public relations and corporate communications.

Singapore Press Club president Patrick Daniel noted that the awards have become the club’s signature event.

“We congratulate the deserving winners and their organisations for their commitment to excellence despite the continuing industry disruption,” he said.

Adam Rahman, managing director and head of communications of Citi’s Asia South cluster, added that “the critical perspective and nuanced storytelling of a professional journalist remain irreplaceable in building public trust”.