The mass media in Singapore refers to mass communication methods through broadcasting, publishing, and the Internet available in the city-state. Singapore's media environment is a duopoly - it is dominated by two major players, Mediacorp and SPH Media.[1][2]
Comprising the publishing, print, broadcasting, film, music, digital, and IT media sectors, the media industry collectively employed about 38,000 people and contributed 1.56% to Singapore's gross domestic product (GDP) in 2001 with an annual turnover of S$10 billion. The industry grew at an average rate of 7.7% annually from 1990 to 2000, and the government seeks to increase its GDP contribution to 3% by 2012.[3][4]
The Ministry of Communications and Information is the government's regulatory body that imposes and enforces regulation over locally produced media content. It also decides on the availability of published media from abroad. Political, regulatory and structural control over all media forms restricts and discourages criticism of the government.[5][6][7][8][9] Issues deemed to be inciting racial and religious hatred are prohibited,[10][11] and media advocating non-traditional family units and lifestyles are avoided.[12][13][14]
Most of the local media are directly or indirectly controlled by the government through shareholdings of these media entities by the state's investment arm Temasek Holdings, and are often perceived as pro-government.[2][15][16] In 2021, Reporters Without Borders ranked Singapore 158 out of 180 countries in the Press Freedom Index.[17]
In 2011, 56% of 1,092 local respondents to a telephone poll agreed that "there is too much government control of newspapers and television", and 48% felt that "newspapers and television are biased when they report on Singapore politics, political parties and elections".[18]
After it acquired the assets of SPH MediaWorks in 2004, the state-owned broadcaster Mediacorp currently owns and operates all six free-to-air terrestrial local television channels licensed to broadcast in Singapore, as well as 12 radio channels. The majority of radio stations in Singapore are mainly operated by Mediacorp with the exception of seven stations, which are operated by So Drama! Entertainment (a part of the Singapore Armed Forces) and SPH Media respectively. The only radio station in Singapore that is entirely outside government control is the BBC Far Eastern Relay station, which broadcasts the BBC World Service locally on 88.9 FM.[2]
Private ownership of TV satellite dishes was previously forbidden.[19]
No person shall print or publish or assist in the printing or publishing of any newspaper in Singapore unless the chief editor or the proprietor of the newspaper has previously obtained a permit granted by the Minister authorising the publication thereof, which permit the Minister may in his discretion grant, refuse or revoke, or grant subject to conditions to be endorsed thereon.
—Newspaper and Printing Presses Act of 1974, Cap. 206, Sec. 21. —(1)
Section 10 of the same act gives the Minister the power to appoint the management shareholders of all newspaper companies and to control any transfers of such management shares.[20] The same section specifies that a management share equals 200 ordinary shares for "any resolution relating to the appointment or dismissal of a director or any member of the staff of a newspaper company",[20] and that the number of management shares must equal at least 1% of ordinary shares.[20] This gives the management shareholders, and by proxy the government, a minimum 66% majority in any votes regarding staffing decisions.
The print media are largely controlled by SPH Media, publisher of the flagship English-language daily, The Straits Times. SPH publishes all daily newspapers with the exception of TODAY, which is owned by Mediacorp, now a digital publication. Chua Chin Hon, The Straits Times US bureau chief, said that the paper's "editors have all been groomed as pro-government supporters and are careful to ensure that reporting of local events adheres closely to the official line", and that "the government exerts significant pressure on ST editors to ensure that published articles follow the government's line".[21] As with worldwide trends, SPH readership and subscription numbers have stagnated since the early-2000s, as Singaporeans increasingly turned to online media for their news.[22]
As of 2008[update], there are 16 newspapers in active circulation. Daily newspapers are published in English, Chinese, Malay and Tamil.
Under a reciprocal agreement between Malaysia and Singapore, Malaysia's the New Straits Times newspaper may not be sold in Singapore, and Singapore's The Straits Times may not be sold in Malaysia. This is largely due to the history between these two countries.[23]
↑ "Media Overview". Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts. Archived from the original on 10 September 2006. Retrieved 17 September 2006.
The New Straits Times is an English-language newspaper published in Malaysia. It is Malaysia's oldest newspaper still in print, having been founded as a local offshoot of Singapore-based The Straits Times on 15 July 1845. It was renamed as the New Straits Times on 13 August 1974.
The Straits Times is a Singaporean daily English-language newspaper owned by the SPH Media Trust. Established on 15 July 1845, it is the most-widely circulated newspaper in the country and has a significant regional audience. The newspaper is published in the broadsheet format and online, the latter of which was launched in 1994. It is regarded as the newspaper of record for Singapore.
Mediacorp Pte. Ltd. is the state-owned public media conglomerate of Singapore. Owned by Temasek Holdings—the investment arm of the Government of Singapore—it owns and operates television channels, radio, and digital media properties. It is headquartered at the Mediapolis development in Queenstown's One-north precinct, which succeeded Caldecott Hill—the long-time home of its predecessors—in 2015; as of 2022, Mediacorp employs over 3,000 employees; a large number of them are in both public and private sector broadcasting.
Television in Singapore began on 15 February 1963. The public broadcaster, MediaCorp TV, has a monopoly on terrestrial television channels and is fully owned by government holding company Temasek Holdings. Local pay TV operators are StarHub TV and Singtel TV. The private ownership of satellite dishes was previously forbidden.
Channel 8 is a Singaporean Mandarin-language free-to-air terrestrial television channel in Singapore, owned by state media conglomerate Mediacorp. The channel broadcasts general entertainment and news programming in the Mandarin language, including original and imported programming.
CNA is a Singaporean multinational news channel owned by Mediacorp, the country's state-owned media conglomerate. CNA broadcasts free-to-air domestically in Singapore, and internationally as a pay television channel to 29 territories across the Asia-Pacific. It also streams on Mediacorp's domestic meWatch platform, and on free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) platforms and YouTube internationally.
Adrian Pang Yeow Soon is a Singaporean actor, host, and contracted artiste under FLY Entertainment. A full-time Mediacorp artiste from 1990 to 2010, Pang first came to prominence in the Singapore television scene with his performances in both English-language and Chinese-language television dramas produced by MediaCorp and SPH MediaWorks in the 1990s. Since then, he has taken roles in hosting and theatre production. More recently, he had a small role in the Hollywood cybercrime movie Blackhat (2015), starring Chris Hemsworth and Wang Leehom.
Public radio broadcasting began in Singapore in April 1925 after the Amateur Wireless Society of Malaya obtained a temporary license to broadcast. Radio Singapura was established as the first local mass market radio service in 1959. Subsequently, on February 15, 1963, before the withdrawal of the British Armed Forces and after the merger with Malaya, Singapore's first television service began as Televisyen Singapura under its owner, Radio Television Singapore (RTS).
Today is a Singaporean news website owned by Mediacorp. It was originally established in 2000 as a free newspaper, competing primarily with Singapore Press Holdings' Streats.
On 31 December 2004, MediaCorp and SPH MediaWorks agreed to merge effective the following day. The merger is no longer in effect on 29 September 2017, when SPH divested from Mediacorp.
Singapore Press Holdings Limited (SPH) was an organisation with businesses in property and aged care in Singapore. Since its takeover by Cuscaden Peak in 2022, it has been renamed Cuscaden Peak Investments.
SPH MediaWorks Ltd was a free-to-air terrestrial television broadcaster in Singapore that operated two television channels: Channel U and Channel i, as well as two radio stations: UFM 1003 and WKRZ 91.3FM. It merged with the city-state's long-established broadcasting company, Mediacorp, in 2004.
Crime rates in Singapore are some of the lowest in the world, with petty crimes such as pickpocketing and street theft rarely occurring, and violent crime being extremely rare. Penalties for drug offences such as trafficking in Singapore are severe, and include the death penalty.
Lianhe Wanbao was a Singapore Chinese-language afternoon newspaper published daily by SPH Media from 16 March 1983 after the merger between the Singaporean editions of Nanyang Siang Pau and Sin Chew Jit Poh.
Fraser and Neave, Limited (F&N) is a Thai-Singaporean food and beverage and publishing and printing industries conglomerate. It is owned by Thai Chinese billionaire business magnate Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi.
Media regulation in the Republic of Singapore is carried out by the Info-communications Media Development Authority (IMDA) and effected by various laws.
Sin Poh Amalgamated Limited was a Singapore publisher, which published Sin Chew Jit Poh in Singapore and Malaysia, as well as Sin Pin Jit Poh in Penang, Malaysia.
The Newspaper and Printing Presses Act 1974 is a statute of the Parliament of Singapore that enables authorities to license the publication and distribution of newspaper and other printed media such as magazines and journals in Singapore. The law is designed to ensure that there is no foreign control of Singaporean newspapers, and limits the circulation of foreign printed media.
SPH Media Trust (SMT), trading as SPH Media, is a mass media company in Singapore. Incorporated on 19 July 2021 as a company limited by guarantee, it was spun off from Singapore Press Holdings as part of a restructuring. It owns several major newspapers in the country, including the English-language The Straits Times and The Business Times, Chinese-language Lianhe Zaobao and Shin Min Daily News, Malay-language Berita Harian, and the Tamil Murasu. The company also publishes magazines, and operates five radio stations.
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