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Serious Jialat! SPH's Circulation Numbers are Inflated!

iu
 
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sub-committees of the PAP's 'new media' committee chaired by Manpower Minister Ng Eng Hen.

One sub-committee, co-headed by Minister of State (Education) Lui Tuck Yew and Hong Kah GRC MP Zaqy Mohamad, strategises the campaign.

The other is led by Tanjong Pagar GRC MP Baey Yam Keng and Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC MP Josephine Teo. Called the 'new media capabilities group', it executes the strategies.

Both were set up after last year's General Election. Aside from politicians, some 20 IT-savvy party activists are also involved.

When contacted, Mr Baey declined to give details of the group's activities, but he outlined the broad principles of the initiative.

It was necessary for the PAP to have a voice in cyberspace as there were few in the online community who were pro-establishment, he said.

As such, the committees aim to 'observe how new media is developing and see how we can use the new media as part of the overall media landscape', he added.
'How do we facilitate views that are pro-party and propagate them through the Internet?'

The approach reflects comments by Rear-Admiral (NS) Lui at the PAP's party conference in December. He called on younger activists to put up views 'to moderate the vitriol and balance the skewed comments' on the Internet.

But this can only work if activists are not 'too obvious' about it, Mr Baey said yesterday. Otherwise it comes across as 'propaganda'.
'The identity is not important. It is the message that is important,' he added.

One activist who is involved said that when posting comments on online forums and the feedback boxes of blogs, he does not identify himself as a PAP member.
He tracks popular blogs and forums to 'see if there is anything we can clarify' on hot-button topics such as the impending hike in the Goods and Services Tax.

But he added: 'We don't rebut everything. Sometimes, what is said is fair enough, and we send the feedback on to the committee.'

This latest initiative comes on top of a blog site with posts by 12 MPs born after Singapore's Independence in 1965.

It recognises that more younger Singaporeans are relying on the new media as a main source of information.

An Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) study conducted last year found that younger and better-educated Singaporeans relied on information from the Internet when shaping their voting choices at the last GE.

Among the opposition parties, members and supporters of the Workers' Party, in particular, post regularly on forums online.

But IPS senior research fellow Tan Tarn How wonders about the effectiveness of the PAP's campaign.

He said Internet users who post on forums such as Sammyboy tend not to be interested in 'intellectual debate' and so will not be persuaded by PAP activists anyway.
As for more serious-minded bloggers, he said the views that the activists may put out are already available in the mainstream media.

Straits times Feb03 2007
 

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It receives public funding of up to $180 million annually over five years​


I thought they usually use the term government funded/funding.
 
AR 2020 , 200 + pages , hidden somewhere those pages :D

Browse over a few time still cannot find.

me think Yang will make an issue further :D
 
I thought no more this umbrage guy, now is Ah Cow, he always talks about Editorial Integrity
 

Bertha Henson​

Tuesday, January 10, 2023 at 12.20 PM

Word that a senior executive of SPH Media had been told to leave got out a fortnight ago, but I gathered that the organisation did not want to reply to queries by other media on the 5Ws and 1H. It seems to me that it was relying on the media outside its fold to not publish any report, since nothing had been officially said. It’s a technique that many newsmakers resort to - no comment, therefore no story. So when WakeUp Sg published the news of three senior executives being in hot water, I paid attention. It was source-based. But even so, there must be enough belief to warrant publication.

So number 1 lesson: Journalists should never think that just because they had no response, there is, therefore, no story. If three credible sources, even if unnamed, say the same thing, the story is good to go. Just say that the key player had been given a chance to respond, but declined comment.

It’s a small thing compared to the nub of the news itself - that SPH Media, in its old incarnation as part of the public listed company, had inflated its circulation figures. It’s a big deal because a newspaper lives or dies by its circulation numbers. In this case, multiplying by two would give it readership numbers (it used to be four). This is the basis on which advertising rates are calculated. Advertisers want reliable numbers to know how many people the newspaper is reaching before putting their money down. They pay more for premium placements and even for days which usually lead to higher circulation numbers.
Beyond the possible backlash from advertisers, there is also a reputational dimension.

I wonder how long SPH Media thought that it could keep the investigation or audit under wraps. It’s a media organisation, for goodness sakes! For this same reason, it should have reported the news (its own exclusive) as soon as it was able to, rather than wait to be “outed’’. The new entity could have touted it as a move to “clear the decks’’ or being “a new broom that sweeps clean’’. Perhaps, it could have earned some kudos. Its belated action only makes the case for more alternative media to “watch over’’ the mainstream media.

On the face of it, the news is terrible. That a publishing company could have fudged such critical numbers says much about its lack of integrity and honesty. Especially since it is a duty of news media to keep watch over everybody else’ integrity and honesty.. This isn’t about a journalist who fabricated a report, but a whole company which seemed to have been engaged in perpetuating big lies, or at the very least, not doing due diligence or turning a blind eye to shenanigans.

Sure, no news media likes falling circulation or readership numbers and would go to extreme lengths to keep their numbers up. That’s why you have discounts and freebies with new subscriptions. You have “steroids’’ - selling in bulk to companies and agencies, bundling deals, special discounts and so forth. When I started the news magazines for students, IN and Little Red Dot, more than a decade ago, I was quite clear about how it was not just about getting young readers to see newspapers as a learning tool but getting a copy of the ST out there with each magazine. It’s called a bundle deal.

As far as I know, numbers were approved and calculated on the basis of the Audit Bureau of Circulation’s definition of circulation. It seemed straightforward to me.
Over the years, of course, things got muddier when newspapers went digital. So what is the combined circulation for print and online? Do you only add paid digital subscriptions to hard copy sales or should the calculus be totally changed in favour of “readership’’? I’m afraid that I don’t know much of this and some questions should be asked of SPH Media. But I do know that the popular thing to do now is simply to lump print and online numbers together, without going into detail about the specifics. It makes the numbers nice and vague.

The latest news report is troubling in other respects. The roles that the three senior executives played are unclear. Are they the perpetrators or just the foot soldiers? SPH Media said it only audited for the period between September 2020 to March 2022. Are we to assume that all the numbers were okay before this? Already, there are whispers about how this inflation of numbers is a long-standing feature. This is not good for the reputation of retired or ex-employees. It is not fair.

Frankly, I cannot believe that numbers have been arbitrarily plucked out of the air. I cannot fathom how unsold copies were counted in circulation and then destroyed. If so, I can’t believe that upper management had no clue. I want to know more, especially how circulation numbers are defined and calculated. Is this dependent on number of copies sold, no matter the discount? Does it matter if they remain unread so long as you can produce an invoice on payment? Or, is this more about how new management defines the numbers as “correct’’?

These matters must be sorted out. SPH Media Trust should set an example of how a company should deliver bad news to the public. Stop pussyfooting about giving specifics and writing euphemisms such as "inconsistencies'' and "issues''. Or you will have no leg to stand on if/when your own journalists start preaching about transparency and accountability from now.

I hope the SMT will do the right thing and respond to the public, not just the Ministry of Communications and Information. That $900 million is not MCI money, it’s OUR money. AND….there are still subscribers among us.
 
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