Singapore Restructure of Singapore Press Holdings
The media operations of Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) will be restructured into a non-profit entity. It will be taken away from SPH, which will probably continue as a property business, perhaps under a new name.

The print media of SPH will in the future receive funding from the government, similar to Mediacorp. 

The restructure means that both the TV and print arms of the mainstream media will be funded by the state. 

There will be no privately operated TV station or newspaper.  There will be no independent media, which is considered to be an important part of a democracy.

Here are my views about this change:

a) Singapore already rank among the bottom in the World Press Freedom Index. Even if it goes down a few more notches, it does not have any significant impact.

b) There is an alternative social media which can provide a different perspective to the state narrative. However, this alternative source may be subject to inaccuracies (which are now being managed through the POFMA law).

c) When SPH was a privately run business, its reporting was considered by the general public to be biased and pro-establishment. In reality, the change will not make any significant difference.

d) The free press in other countries may also be controlled by corporate interest and may also provide a distorted interpretation of events. In most cases, they do not provide an independent and objective view of reality anyway.

I conclude that this change is better in recognizing the reality of the media situation. We have to get away from the fiction of being an "independent media" when it has to meet with many constraints.

Tan Kin Lian


 

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