The document provides an overview of mass media in Singapore, beginning with a historical background of the country. It then discusses traditional print and broadcast media industries, which are largely dominated by state-linked companies. New media has seen more growth and alternative voices. The document examines the close relationship between the government and media, with an expectation that media will conform to the government's agenda. It also explores some implications, such as new media potentially allowing more democratic practices, and challenges facing traditional media.
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Mass Media - The Media of Singapore: An Overlook
1. Mass Media In Asia COMM2379
Group Presentation SINGAPORE
Lecturer: Christian Berg
Group Members:
Tran Nguyen Ly (s3309992)
Ha Thi Ngoc Ning (s3311637)
Lam Ngoc Hai Son (s3312617)
Le Minh Nhut (s3245998)
2. Table Of Content
Historical Background
Media Industry Insight
The Role of Media
Implications
Conclusion
3. Historical Background
Population: 4.4 million
people.
Ethnicity: 75% Chinese, 14%
Malay, 9% Indian, 2% others.
Language: English
(main), Malay, Chinese and
Tamil.
Very small area (648 km2)
Literacy rate: 95.9% in 2010.
(Dayley & Neher 2010)
4. Historical Background
Colonized by British in 19th century.
Declare independence in 1963 and joined the Federation
of Malaysia.
Political differences => separated from Malaysia 2 years
later.
Faced the challenge of surviving without Malaysia
Principle resource: human resource
Nation-building is extremely crucial
Political culture: authoritarian democracy (Kluver &
Banerjee 2005) with the Peoples Action Party (PAP) is the
leading political party.
5. Media Industry: Traditional Media
Print media:
Local Press:
Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) and MediaCorp
dominate all local print and broadcast media, which
has close government ties.
As of 2008, there are 16 newspapers in active
circulation published in all 4 languages.
*** Press Model ***
Developmental outside, authoritarian inside
(Bokhorst-Heng 2008)
6. Magazines & Books:
A variety of magazines are available.
Most deal with general topics and issues related to the
ruling party and its government policies.
Foreign Publications:
Regulations on importing foreign
newspapers.
there is still a ban on the sale and
distribution of Malaysian newspapers
(e.g. The New Strait Times).
7. Broadcast Media: Radio
Started in 1936
Expanded to 18 locally operated
radio stations
Owned by MediaCorp,
UnionWorks, and Safra Radio
Foreign broadcasters: BBC
World Service
Modes of Delivery: Analogue,
Digital and Satellite and Internet
Reproduced from:
Keshishoglou & Aquilia 2005
8. Broadcast Media: Television
Started in 1963
Owned by MediaCorp and
MediaWorks.
All 7 free-to-air local TV is by
MediaCorp gov owned
Channel NewsAsia also owned by
MediaCorp
No private ownership of satellite disks
The Media Development Authority (MDA)
regulates broadcast media.
9. Media Industry: New Media
As of June 2010, there are 6,791,000 broadband Internet
subscribers with 82% household broadband penetration
(IDA Singapore 2011).
Most newspaper publications have their own online
editions.
NGO and alternative news are being expressed (e.g. New
Sintercom, Think Centre, Singapore Window, etc.)
The MDA also regulates the
Internet through the Media
Development Authority of
Singapore Act.
10. Media-Government Relationship
Media is considered to be an aid to government in the
process of nation-building (Kenyon & Majoribanks 2007).
Media is expected to conform to an agenda determined by
government. (Lee 2005)
Rather than freedom of the
press from government, the
approach in Singapore is
freedom of government from
the press.
(Lee Hsien Loong 1987).
11. => Freedom With Responsibility
This approach has resulted in creating a culture of self-
censorship among media practitioners and codes of
practice.
The industry is encouraged to be socially responsible and to
take adequate steps to ensure that content meets with
community standards.
7th in the worlds least corrupted
country but ranked 136th and
150th in press freedom.
(RSF 2010, Freedom House 2011)
12. The Role of Media
Economic: To become a global media hub and a
total business center.
Social: To spread public consciousness as an
educational and entertainment tool for people.
Political: To play as an assistant in governmental
activities and elections.
(Ang & Nadarajan 1996)
13. Implications
New media = More democratic practice?
The Internet holds the potential to give opposition parties
equal footing to the ruling parties as well as the press
(Gomez & Muhamad 2010).
For the first time since independence, a majority of
Singaporeans got to vote (Juan 2011) Leader of
Singapores Democratic Party.
15. Implications
Mass media in danger of decline
The Straits Times daily sales, which stood 391,612 in
1998, had fallen to 365,800 in 2010 despite the addition of
half a million new residents (Nee 2011).
Lianhe Zaobao's dropped by 4.6 percent between 2006 and
2009 (Nee 2011).
Singapore Media in Globalization:
The Media 21 (2003) & The Media Fusion Plan (2009)
by the MDA.
17. Reference
Ang, PH & Nadarajan, B 1996, 'Censorship and the Internet: A Singapore Perspective', Communication of the ACM, Nanyang
Technological University, Singapore, Vol. 39, No.6, pp. 72- 78.
Article 19 2005, Freedom of Expression and The Media In Singapore, Article 19 Publications, London, UK.
Bokhorst-Heng, W 2002, Newspapers In Singapore: A Mass Ceremony In The Imagining Of The Nation, Media Culture Society, Sage
Publications, Vol. 24, No. 4, pp. 559-569.
Dayley, R & Neher, C 2010, Singapore, Southeast Asia in The New International Era, Westview Press, US, pp. 159-178.
Gomez, J & Muhamad R 2010, New Media and Electoral Democracy: Online Opposition in Malaysia and Singapore, Academia, US.
Juan, C 2011, Singapore is taking the first steps to true democracy, The Guardian UK, 10 May, viewed 22 December
2011, <http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/may/10/singapore-election-democracy-new-media>.
Keshishoglou, J & Aqualia, P 2005, Electronic Broadcast Media in Singapore and the Region, 2nd edn, Thomson, Singapore.
IDA Singapore 2011, Infocomm Usage - Households and Individuals, IDA Singapore, viewed 22 December
2011, <http://www.ida.gov.sg/Publications/20070822125451.aspx>.
Lambeth, EB 1995, Chapter One: Global Media Philosophies, in JC Merrill (ed.), Global Journalism: Survey of International
Communication, Longman Publisher USA, New York, pp. 3-18.
Lee, HL 1987, When the Press Misinforms, Singapore: Information Division, Ministry of Communications and Information, Singapore.
Leo, P & Lee, T 2004, The New Singapore: Mediating Culture and Creativity, Continuum: Journal of Media & Cultural Studies, Carfax
Publishing, Vol. 18, No. 2, pp. 205-218.
Kenyon, A & Majoribanks, T 2007, Transforming Media Markets: The Cases of Malaysia and Singapore, Australian Journal of Emerging
Technologies and Society, Vol.5, No.2, AJETS, pp. 103-118.
Kulver, P & Banerjee, K 2005, Political Culture, Regulation and Democratisation: The Internet in Nine Asian
Nations, Information, Communication & Society, Vol. 8, No. 1, Taylor & Francis Group Ltd, pp. 30-46.
Nee 2011, Singapore print media stands at a crossroads, The China Post, 6 June, viewed 22 December
2011, <http://www.chinapost.com.tw/commentary/the-china-post/special-to-the-china-post/2011/06/06/305142/p2/Singapore-
print.htm>.
Rodan, G 2000, Asian Crisis, Transparency and The International Media in Singapore, The Pacific Review, Routledge, Vol. 13, No.
2, pp. 217-242.
Editor's Notes
#16: Media 21: http://www.mnddc.org/asd-employment/pdf/03-M21-MDA.pdfMedia Fusion Plan: http://www.mda.gov.sg/Documents/PDF/about_us/AboutUs_VisionMission_SMFP.pdf