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</td></tr> <tr><td class="msgtxt">ST Editor “aware” that people say Straits Times is a govt mouthpiece
April 29th, 2010 |
Author: Your Correspondent
Speaking during a dialogue session organize for forum writers to the Straits Times, ST Editor Han Fook Kwang admitted that the paper suffers from a perception that it is a “government mouthpiece”.
“Our circulation is 380,000 and we have a readership of 1.4 million. These are people who buy the paper every day. We’re aware people say we’re a government mouthpiece or that we are biased. But the test is if our readers believe in the paper and continue to buy it,” he was quoted as saying in the Straits Times today.
Mr Han forgot to add that Singaporeans really don’t have much of a choice. Besides the Straits Times, the other two English newspapers available in print are The New Paper and TODAY.
The Straits Times claimed that the number of contributors to its Forum pages has doubled since 2000 and many of them are young Singaporeans who are thought to prefer sharing their opinions on the New Media.
There is perception among some Singaporeans that the Straits Times Forum selects and publishes only letters which are favorable to the government and censors those critical of it.
There is only one print media company in Singapore – SPH which is led by a former PAP minister Dr Tony Tan.
Reporters without Borders ranked the Singapore media 133th in terms of press freedom among 175 countries last year.
The report drew a sharp rebuttal from Law Minister Shanmugam who said it was “quite divorced from reality”. Another Minister Lui Tuck Yew proclaimed later that the mainstream media remains a “trustworthy source of news in Singapore.”
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</td><td class="wintiny" align="right" nowrap="nowrap">32399.1 </td></tr><tr><td height="8">
</td></tr> <tr><td class="msgtxt">ST Editor “aware” that people say Straits Times is a govt mouthpiece
Speaking during a dialogue session organize for forum writers to the Straits Times, ST Editor Han Fook Kwang admitted that the paper suffers from a perception that it is a “government mouthpiece”.
“Our circulation is 380,000 and we have a readership of 1.4 million. These are people who buy the paper every day. We’re aware people say we’re a government mouthpiece or that we are biased. But the test is if our readers believe in the paper and continue to buy it,” he was quoted as saying in the Straits Times today.
Mr Han forgot to add that Singaporeans really don’t have much of a choice. Besides the Straits Times, the other two English newspapers available in print are The New Paper and TODAY.
The Straits Times claimed that the number of contributors to its Forum pages has doubled since 2000 and many of them are young Singaporeans who are thought to prefer sharing their opinions on the New Media.
There is perception among some Singaporeans that the Straits Times Forum selects and publishes only letters which are favorable to the government and censors those critical of it.
There is only one print media company in Singapore – SPH which is led by a former PAP minister Dr Tony Tan.
Reporters without Borders ranked the Singapore media 133th in terms of press freedom among 175 countries last year.
The report drew a sharp rebuttal from Law Minister Shanmugam who said it was “quite divorced from reality”. Another Minister Lui Tuck Yew proclaimed later that the mainstream media remains a “trustworthy source of news in Singapore.”
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