Rappler appoints new leaders
RAPPLER ANNOUNCED on October 6 the appointment of three new leaders: Natashya Gutierrez as company president, Pia Ranada as community head, and Jon Dayao as chief technology director. Rappler said the new designations usher in “the next generation of leaders in the 11-year-old organization as it strives to shape the future of news.”
Among the pioneers of Rappler, Gutierrez was also former editor-in-chief of Vice News Asia-Pacific. She started her journalism career in Rappler and stayed for seven years, covering politics and running Rappler’s Indonesia bureau.
Under her watch as editor in chief, the Vice Asia-Pacific team won several awards for their reporting on human rights in the region. In March, Gutierrez was named one of the World Economic Forum’s Young Global Leaders for 2023. As a correspondent, she has done extensive reporting on the Philippines with award-winning pieces on the impact of Duterte’s drug war on women and a collaborative cross-border investigation into the killing of land defenders.
Ranada, who covered the Palace in the tumultuous years under former President Rodrigo Duterte, is now tasked to evolve one of Rappler’s founding missions – to “build communities of action,” promising to play a part in building back bridges destroyed by polarization.
Ranada just finished her John S. Knight fellowship at Stanford, where she studied disinformation and engaged journalism. She led various special projects at Rappler, such as the coverage of the climate crisis and the plebiscite for the Bangsamoro region.
Dayao, meanwhile, has more than three decades of experience in building teams, systems, and businesses. Before joining Rappler, Dayao built and operated educational systems as former vice president of the Mapua Malayan Digital College. He holds a doctorate in computer science from the University of Brighton in the UK and previously ran operations of local and international companies. He also served as dean of computer studies at De La Salle University.
Ranada and Gutierrez are fellows of CMFR’s Jaime V. Ongpin Journalism Seminar (JVOJS), Gutierrez in 2018 and Ranada in 2021. JVOJS recognizes journalists who have distinguished themselves with the quality of their work and the promotion of media ethics.
