LONG-TERM SUSTAINABILITY OF MAINSTREAM MEDIA

LONG-TERM SUSTAINABILITY OF MAINSTREAM MEDIA

15.

Mr Zaqy Mohamad asked the Acting Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts what are his Ministry's plans to ensure long-term sustainability and credibility of the mainstream media.

RAdm [NS] Lui Tuck Yew: The fast-changing media landscape and the more recent economic crisis are two of the most immediate challenges to Singapore's mainstream media companies. As commercially-driven companies, they have to be innovative and exploit new business opportunities to remain viable. For example, the Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) was quick to launch online versions of the Straits Times , Business Times and Lianhe Zaobao . MediaCorp also has an online version of TODAY newspaper.

While media companies in other countries encountered financial difficulties, we had avoided the same through prudent management and a sound working relationship between employers and staff. Readership of our local dailies, both offline and online, is healthy. Readership of the newspapers has gone up by 5% between 2008 and 2009 while that for their online versions has increased by 45% during the same period.

The readership of our local newspapers has remained strong despite the multitude of news sources on the Internet. According to the latest Nielsen Media Index survey conducted between July 2008 and June 2009, 75% of those surveyed selected newspapers as their preferred source of news. At the same time, online news portals such as ChannelNewsAsia.com and AsiaOne have consistently ranked among the top "news and media" websites visited by Singaporeans(1).

There are many reasons why this is so. One key reason is that the mainstream media in Singapore has continued to remain a trusted news source. The mainstream media is accurate, timely and balanced in their reporting. A Business Times article on 5 February 2010 reported a survey(2) conducted by the US-based Public Relations firm, Edelman, which revealed that 68% of the respondents in Singapore found newspapers to be the most trusted source of information. This is significantly higher than the international average of only 34% which trusted newspapers as a credible source of information.

MediaCorp has also been quick to reinvent itself. In October last year, it launched MediaCorp NewsHub, the first of its kind in Asia. As a one-stop centre for news content that cuts across the print, radio, television and Internet platforms, the news hub provides the public with access to the latest news – anytime, anywhere – from radio, TV, print and online platforms, ranging from bite-sized information and video clips to in-depth stories and analysis.

As a content provider for entertainment purposes, MediaCorp has done well by continuously reviewing and refreshing its programming strategies. Viewership for its TV channels has remained high, garnering nearly 80% of resident population annually over the past two years. MediaCorp's radio stations also enjoy strong growth in listenership over the past two years, with more than 3.6 million listeners every day.

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In conclusion, it is important for Singapore's mainstream media to remain commercially sound through prudent practices, to be the trusted source of news and information and to produce high quality work in order to remain the most attractive and popular choice of the people.

(1) Source: HitWise
(2) The survey polled 200 people in Singapore and a total of 4,875 worldwide, including the US, Britain, China and India.

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