Mark Clifford

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Mark L. Clifford
Born	1957
Occupation	Executive Director, Asia Business Council
Notable credit(s)	Publisher and Editor-in-Chief, The Standard (1/2004 – 2/2006), Editor-in-Chief, South China Morning Post (2/2006 – 4/2007)

Mark L. Clifford is an author and former journalist who worked for BusinessWeek, the Far Eastern Economic Review, and Forbes. He was the publisher and editor-in-chief of The Standard newspaper in Hong Kong from January 2004 to February 2006, and the Editor-in-Chief the South China Morning Post, its larger rival, from 3 February 2006 to 1 April 2007. Since May 2007, Clifford is the Executive Director of the Asia Business Council.

Biography

Clifford is an American author and former journalist who has lived in Asia since 1987. Clifford worked at Forbes and other business publications in New York City during the 1980s. His career in Asia began in 1987 in Seoul at the Far Eastern Economic Review. He held a number of positions with that magazine, including Business Editor, before leaving to join BusinessWeek in 1995 as a Regional Correspondent and later became Asia Regional Editor. Along with a BusinessWeek team, he won the Morton Frank award for Best Business Reporting from Abroad (Magazine) from the Overseas Press Club for coverage of the 1997 Asian financial crisis.^[1] and the 'Excellence in Reporting on the Environment' award from the Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA).^[2] From January 2004 until his appointment to head the SCMP, Clifford served as publisher and editor-in-chief of The Standard, another Hong Kong English-language daily newspaper. He joined the South China Morning Post in February 2006.^[3]

Clifford is a graduate of the University of California Berkeley (1980). He was a Walter Bagehot Fellow at Columbia University (1986-87).^{[citation needed]}

South China Morning Post

Clifford generated controversy early in his tenure at the South China Morning Post after a November 2006 incident in which he summarily dismissed chief articles editor Trevor Willison and articles editor Paul Ruffini for what he believed to be a vulgar joke: the two had apparently minor roles in the creation of a "leaving page" for a departing colleague. Over 100 of the approximately 300 editorial staff signed a petition following the incident,^[4] which challenged the grounds for dismissal, and demanded reinstatement of the sacked duo.

There had already been some disquiet over the sacking in October of a junior photographer (since rehired) over a mis-captioned photograph, which provoked the eventual departure of Clifford's lieutenant and the paper's business editor, Stuart Jackson. In January 2007, further high-level departures were announced at the paper.^[5]

The newspaper management credited him for his "key role in changes that have both strengthened and improved editorial operations" and for being "the driving force behind the SCMP's forthcoming re-design"^[6] but denied his departure was due to the recent turbulence.^[7] Both the South China Morning Post and the Standard won numerous awards for news coverage, photography and design during Clifford's tenure. ^[8]

Asia Business Council

Clifford joined the Asia Business Council in May 2007 as its Executive Director,^[9] since which time he has co-authored two books, contributed chapters to two others. He has contributed columns and reviews for publications including TIME, the Hong Kong Economic Journal, and China's Caixin.^{[citation needed]}

Books

Author

• Troubled Tiger: Businessmen, Bureaucrats, and Generals in South Korea (ISBN 0765601400)

Co-author

• Through the Eyes of Tiger Cubs: Views of Asia's Next Generation (ISBN 9781118094631), 2012
• Building Energy Efficiency: Why Green Buildings Are Key to Asia's Future (ISBN 9889956519), 2007
• China and the WTO: Changing China, Changing World Trade (ISBN 0470820616), 2002, with former World Trade Organization Director-General Supachai Panitchpakdi.
• Meltdown: Asia's Spectacular Boom and Devastating Bust (ISBN 0735201412) 1999

References

1. ^ "OPC Awards Past Recipients" (Search for Mark Clifford, affiliated with BusinessWeek). Overseas Press Club of America. Retrieved 11 August 2011
2. ^ SOPA Announces 2004 Editorial Excellence Award Winners, Hong Kong, June 24, 2004.
3. ^ SCMP Group Executive Appointment and Changes. . South China Morning Post (Hong Kong). 3 February 2006. http://scmpgroup.com/pressroom/press_20060203.html. Retrieved 7 December 2006. 
4. ^ Brook, Stephen (14 November 2006). "Subs sacked over leaving page". Guardian (UK). http://media.guardian.co.uk/presspublishing/story/0,,1947667,00.html. Retrieved 21 March 2007. 
5. ^ "Two more top editors leave South China Morning Post". International Herald Tribune. 29 January 2007. http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/01/29/business/paper.php. Retrieved 21 March 2007. 
6. ^ SCMP Announces Senior Management Change. . South China Morning Post (Hong Kong). 19 March 2007. http://scmpgroup.com/pressroom/press_20070319.html. Retrieved 21 March 2007. 
7. ^ "Editor quits Post after bitter year". The Standard (Hong Kong). 20 March 2007. http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=11&art_id=40537&sid=12738762&con_type=1&d_str=20070320&sear_year=2007. Retrieved 21 March 2007. 
8. ^ See, for example, http://www.sopasia.com/awards/2007-winners-b.asp
9. ^ "Asia Business Council Announces New Leadership Team" (Press release). Asia Business Council. 19 March 2007. http://www.asiabusinesscouncil.org/news.html. Retrieved 22 March 2007. 

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Name	Clifford, Mark
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Date of birth	1957
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