By Hoe Yeen Nie | Posted:
10 November 2010 2206 hrs
SINGAPORE : Singapore's Senior Minister, Goh Chok
Tong, has said the emergence of both new media and niche content
providers will give rise to an increasingly individualistic or
"atomised" society.
This makes it more challenging for policymakers to build public
consensus.
Speaking at the TODAY newspaper's 10th anniversary dinner, a
star-studded event attended by some of Singapore's leading
newsmakers, Mr Goh shared his views on how traditional papers can
cope.
He said the TODAY newspaper has done well, growing its readership
by 30 per cent to almost 700,000 in five years. It has also been
profitable since five years ago.
Mr Goh said: "TODAY's success owes much to its distinctive
editorial approach and presentation style. It is a serious
newspaper which offers a variety of opinions and perspectives. I
may not always agree with them but at least they set you thinking,
which is TODAY's motto.
"I support the newspaper's aim to get its readers thinking about
the issues of the day - for I believe that only a thinking
population who cares about the future of Singapore can sustain our
growth and prosperity."
In a letter to the paper, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said he
reads the paper often, and it has been able to present complex news
stories into easy-to-understand articles.
He said: "The newspaper takes a balanced editorial stance, and
publishes a broad spectrum of opinions and commentary. It does a
particularly good job of breaking down and presenting complex news
stories into digestible and easy to understand articles."
The media environment now is vastly different from when the paper
first started 10 years ago. Singaporeans now have easy access to
many more sources of news, and they are also generating their own
news content through social media websites.
Mr Goh said traditional news providers like TODAY can stay relevant
by ensuring they remain accurate and balanced sources of news and
by featuring strong local content.
They can also stay ahead of the competition by keeping up with
technology, which is what the TODAY newspaper has done with its new
iPad application.
Lucas Chow, CEO, MediaCorp, said: "The TODAY iPad is more than just
the online version of the hard copy newspaper. It leverages on
MediaCorp's rich multi-media content, offering readers videos from
Channel NewsAsia and 'live' radio from 938LIVE.
"The reason why we're doing this is not because we want to be the
first, but because it's our way of engaging with our readers, their
changing lifestyles and reading habits."
- CNA/al