The Straits Times
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The Straits Times is an English-language broadsheet newspaper based in Singapore and owned by the Singapore Press Holdings (SPH), first published on July 15, 1845. It is the oldest newspaper of any kind in Singapore and is the dominant English-language paper of the country, with a circulation of around 400,000 daily.
Currently, the newspaper publishes three weekly pull-outs ("Digital Life," "Mind Your Body," and "Urban," on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, respectively). All three pull-outs are published in tabloid format.
The Straits Times is the only English-language newspaper with an active Internet forum in Singapore. A separate edition, The Sunday Times, is published on Sundays. The newsstand price of The Straits Times is S$0.80.
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About the Paper
The Straits Times' functions with 11 bureaus and special correspondents in major cities worldwide. The paper itself is published in two main sections: the main focuses on world and international news, with subsections of columns, editorials, finance, sports and forum pages. A separate lifestyle, entertainment and the arts section is titled Life!.
Criticism
Its circulation has been banned by the Malaysian government at one point during an international dispute over the sale of water (conversely, the rival Malaysian newspaper New Straits Times was banned in Singapore).
One serious criticism of The Straits Times is that articles on politics are seen by critics as being biased towards the right-wing ideology of the ruling People's Action Party. This has been due in part to The Newspaper and Printing Presses Act of 1974, which requires all government papers to be publicly listed into both ordinary and management shares, thus ensuring the government gets to decide the composition of the management board. Hence, past chairpersons of Singapore Press Holdings have all been civil servants. Opposition figures are also given little or no press coverage, in terms of interviews or statements.
Cherian George, a journalist and art editor of the paper, has given an insightful description of press workings in Singapore. He stated in a convention conference in 1998 at the University of California, Berkeley that "the PAP power is hegemonic power, in the Gramscian sense: it is a perfect blend of coercion and consent", concluding that "Singapore's newspapers are, at least in part, willing partners, of the state....the PAP did not suppress the press in order to cover up corruption or hide its mistakes. It did so out of a sincere belief that the press as an institution had a narrow and short-term view of the public interest, and that it could obstruct good government. Singapore's press model thus reverses the equation of your First Amendment. Here, the press, seen as the pure expression of democracy, is protected from the government, which, despite having been elected democratically, is assumed automatically by your political culture to have undemocratic tendencies. In the Singapore model, the elected government is the expression of democracy, and it is protected from the press, which is unelected and therefore undemocratic....
"the 'freedom from the press' model does mean that newspapers must operate within much narrower perimeters than their counterparts in most parts of the world. It must accept its subordinate role in society...The tone of stories must be respectful towards the country's leaders. They can be critical, but they cannot ridicule or lampoon." [1]
Reporters Without Borders has ranked Singapore 147th out of 166 countries in its second annual World Press Freedom Ranking in 2004. In 2005 Singapore's rating improved somewhat when it was ranked 140th by the same organization. The annual Country Human Rights Report for Singapore in 2004 report by the U.S. State Department has reported that the Singapore government "fostered an atmosphere inimical to free speech and a free press," though it said that there was "limited progress towards greater openness during the year." [2]
Straits Times Interactive
Launched in 1999, the Straits Times Interactive was free of charge and granted access to all the sections and articles found in the print edition.On the 15 March 2005, the on-line version began requiring registration and after a short period became a paid access only site. Currently only people who pay to subscribe to the on-line edition can read the articles online.
Subscribers to the print edition need only pay half the rate to gain access to the on-line edition.
The Straits Times' decision to make its on-line edition pay only is unprecedented in view of other traditional newspapers' on-line editions.
Community Programmes
The Straits Times Pocket Money Fund
The Straits Times Pocket Money Fund is a community fund set up by The Straits Times to ensure that less well-off pupils are adequately well-fed in schools. They are given either $30 (for Primary School) or $50 (for Secondary School) every month, to ensure that there are enough pocket money for their recess.
The Straits Times Media Club
The Straits Times Media Club is a youth programme to encourage Youth readership and interest in News and Current Affairs. Schools will have to suscribe at least 500 copies, and will receive their papers on every Monday. A Youth Newspaper, IN, is slotted in together with the main paper for the students.
The Straits Times School of Rock Competition
The Straits Times School of Rock Competition was incepted in 2005. Budding young bands with members aged between 13-18 compete to be the ultimate Youth Band in Singapore. The final showdown will occur at Junction 8 on 31st July.
Band Maximum Velocity beat 9 other bands in the School of Rock Competition, bringing home S$5,000 (US$3,008) in cash and a management contract from artiste management company Music & Movement.Maximum Velocity consists of lead guitarist Clayder Goh, 16, from Pasir Ris Crest Secondary School, singer, Mohd Faris,16, from Pasir Ris Crest, drummer,Mohd Sallehin, 17, from Nanyang Polytechnic and guitarist,Mohd Fazli,17. Over 1,500 people were gathered at Junction 8 to see them being crowned as the inaugral competition. The audience sent in 1,798 SMS votes.
Notable personalities
- Cheong Yip Seng (Editor-in-Chief)
- Han Fook Kwang (Editor)
- Felix Soh (Deputy Editor)
- Zuraidah Ibrahim (Political Editor)
- Warren Fernandez (Foreign Editor)
- Sumiko Tan (Life!/Urban Editor)
- Susan Long (Journalist)
- Ching Cheong (Senior journalist - presently hold by Chinese authorities on espionage charges)
