Jaemark Tordecilla

Jaemark Tordecilla is a journalist, media advisor, and technologist from the Philippines, specializing in newsroom innovation and artificial intelligence. He is currently working with newsrooms and media development networks across Asia on innovation projects, helping news organizations adapt to emerging technologies. He was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University in 2023-24, focusing on the implications of generative AI in the media industry, including its ethical considerations and potential applications. His work on building AI tools for newsrooms in developing countries has been featured by the Reuters Institute and the Computational Journalism Lab at Northwestern University. His research and insights on AI in journalism have also been cited in key industry reports, including the Reuters Institute’s Digital News Report 2024, WAN-IFRA’s Innovation in News Media World Report 2024-25, and the Gen AI x Comms Industry Impact Report 2024. He has since conducted dozens of seminars and workshops on generative AI and digital newsroom strategy and transformation for journalists and media managers from across Southeast Asia, the United States, South Asia, and Latin America. He has been tapped as an expert in various programs of media development organizations including the Online News Association, WAN-IFRA, the Google News Initiative, and has conducted workshops at Harvard University, the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY, and the University of Hong Kong. Prior to his fellowship, Tordecilla spent nearly a decade as editor-in-chief and head of digital media at GMA News Online, overseeing all online publishing and audience development efforts for an organization that had nearly 200 million followers across different platforms. Under his leadership, GMA News Online received accolades for its long-form features, journalism innovation, audience engagement, and digital documentary storytelling from organizations such as the World Association of News Publishers, the Society of Publishers in Asia, and the New York Festivals, among many others.​ His team pioneered techniques in multimedia storytelling, explanatory journalism, influencer collaborations, interactive news campaigns, and livestreaming to become the top digital news source for Filipinos on online platforms. In 2021, he was honored with The Outstanding Young Men (TOYM) Award, one of the Philippines' top honors for young civic leaders, in recognition of his contributions to digital journalism. ​ Tordecilla began his journalism career at the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism in 2009, where he was part of the team that won Agence France-Presse’s Kate Webb Prize for coverage of the 2009 Maguindanao Massacre. In that role, he also contributed to training journalists in the Philippines and across the region, including members of Myanmar newsrooms living in exile in Thailand.