Eric Wishart

About

Eric Wishart is Standards and Ethics Editor, and a former editor-in-chief ,of AFP News Agency. He teaches journalism at Hong Kong University and Hong Kong Baptist University and is an external examiner for Cardiff University School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies . He is a member of the Organization of News Ombudsmen and Standards Editors, and a judge in the Hong Kong News Awards. He drew up the AFP Charter setting out the Agency’s guiding principles; its code of ethics, which has been published in English, French, Arabic, Spanish and Chinese; the Agency’s 20 Principles of Sourcing; and edits the AFP Stylebook.He joined AFP in 1984 and his positions at the Agency include Middle East English desk head (1992-1996), Asia-Pacific editor (1996-1999), (AFP's first non-French) editor-in-chief (1999-2005) and Asia-Pacific director (2005-2012).He has been a member of the global news management since 2013, based in Hong Kong.He has spoken in person and via Webinar at events in the more than a dozen countries -- the United States, Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, the UK, Hong Kong, Singapore, Jakarta, Macau, Laos, the EU in Brussels, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, mainland China, France and Qatar -- about the challenges of fake news, media ethics, the impact of social media on journalism and press freedom.Subjects he has taught at Hong Kong University and Hong Kong Baptist University include news and feature writing, and covering conflicts and global affairs. He taught a two-week workshop for Malaysian journalists in June 2019 on restoring public trust in the media.He began his career in 1973, studying at journalism school in Edinburgh and obtaining the NCTJ Proficiency Certificate.
He worked in newspapers in Scotland for 10 years, covering news, rock music and motoring.
 He is a former president of the FCC Hong Kong and a member of PEN America and the Asian American Journalists Association. 
He has British and Irish nationalities and is a Hong Kong permanent resident. He speaks English and French.