Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam said on Saturday (May 8) that it is extremely important to maintain trust in the media.
Trust is of vital importance not just for the media but for governments and institutions, Mr Shanmugam said.
โIn Singapore, we take great pains โ if you look at the Government โ to retain, maintain the trust of the people because, if there is no trust, we can’t govern well, we wonโt be able to take long-term measures.
“๐๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ซ๐ ๐ฐ๐๐ฌ ๐ง๐จ ๐ญ๐ซ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ, ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐๐ฑ๐๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐, ๐ฐ๐ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ ๐ง๐จ๐ญ ๐ก๐๐ฏ๐ ๐๐๐๐ง ๐๐๐ฅ๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฆ๐๐ง๐๐ ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐จ๐ฏ๐ข๐-๐๐ ๐๐ซ๐ข๐ฌ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฐ๐๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ ๐๐ข๐โฆ (๐๐ง๐ ๐ข๐) ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฆ๐๐๐ข๐ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ง๐จ๐ญ ๐ญ๐ซ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐, it would inevitably lead to a government and political leadership that is not trusted, and we are all finished if that happens.”
The old business model doesn’t work!
Mr Shanmugam said, “Media businesses in most countries are under pressure. Many newspapers in Europe, the US have closed. Many others have been restructured, including some of the best-known international newspapers.”
Both the Chicago Tribune and Denver Post, for example, had to be saved from bankruptcy. Others like the Washington Post and the South China Morning Post are bought over by billionaires, Jeff Bozos and Jack Ma respectively.
๐๐จ๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐ง๐ฆ๐๐ง๐ญ๐ฌ, Mr Shanmugam said, ๐ก๐๐ฏ๐ ๐ง๐จ ๐๐ก๐จ๐ข๐๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ฉ ๐ข๐ง ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฉ๐ฉ๐จ๐ซ๐ญ ๐ง๐๐ฐ๐ฌ ๐จ๐ซ๐ ๐๐ง๐ข๐ฌ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ ๐ข๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐๐ง๐ญ ๐ก๐ข๐ ๐ก-๐ช๐ฎ๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ ๐ฃ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ง๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ.
Mr Shanmugam noted that the French government has provided hundreds of millions of euros in support, both direct and indirect, to the press every year. It also commissioned a report in 2010, which said that the countryโs press was being kept in a state of โpermanent artificial respirationโ.
In terms of readership, SPH’s newspapers, which include The Straits Times and Lianhe Zaobao, have done ‘extremely well’, said Mr Shanmugam. But while readership has gone up, ‘bottom lines have come down, suffered’, he said. “๐๐ ๐ซ๐๐ฏ๐๐ง๐ฎ๐๐ฌ ๐ก๐๐ฏ๐ ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ ๐๐จ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฌ๐ก๐๐ซ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ฒ. ๐๐ก๐ ๐จ๐ฅ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ข๐ง๐๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐ฆ๐จ๐๐๐ฅ ๐๐จ๐๐ฌ๐ง’๐ญ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ค.”
Hiving off its media business into a not-for-profit entity and restructuring the company into a company limited by guarantee will allow it to receive funding from private and public sources, including extra financial support from the Government.
Singaporeans trust our media
Independent surveys such as the Edelman Trust Barometer have shown that Singapore ranks higher than other developed countriesย – including the United States, United Kingdom and Japan – on this topic.
Around 62 per cent of respondents in Singapore trust the media to do what is right, compared with the global average of around 51 per cent. A 2020 survey by YouGov also found thatย seven in 10 people here trust local media reporting on Covid-19,ย compared with three in 10 in the UK.
‘Trust’ is important and it is extremely important for media to maintain this trust through high-quality journalism.
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