Reasons for funding SPH Media still valid; circulation issue doesn’t affect decision: Josephine Teo
The recent discovery of overstated circulation data at SPH Media Trust (SMT) will not affect the Government’s decision to fund the media company, as the reasons to help develop local newsrooms remain valid, said Minister for Communications and Information Josephine Teo.
She added that there is no change to the Government’s commitment to fund SMT up to $900 million over five years.
The level of funding – to support SMT in digital transformation and capability development, and to sustain vernacular newsrooms – remains valid, she told the House, as there is a need to preserve local news in the public interest amid severe disruption in the media industry.
Mrs Teo also said circulation numbers of the company’s publications were not a key consideration in assessing the funding required for SMT’s transformation.
Her remarks in Parliament on Monday came in response to 26 questions filed by MPs. SMT is facing public criticism after it emerged that an internal review found that circulation figures for some of its publications had been overstated by about 85,000 to 95,000 daily average copies between September 2020 and March 2022.
Mrs Teo emphasised that no public monies have been lost due to the discrepancies in circulation figures, as the Government had pledged to start funding SMT only in financial year 2022 – after the period covered in SMT’s internal review – and had also yet to disburse any funds to date.
The reasons for funding SMT, aired and debated in Parliament in 2021 and 2022, remain as valid today, she said of the findings her ministry made after a review sparked by the circulation issue.
Local news outlets give voice to the Singapore identity and Singaporean perspectives, and also provide information people can trust to be accurate and objective, she said.
It has become even more important to ensure their survival at a time when the Internet has made it exceedingly easy for all kinds of information to reach and influence domestic audiences, Mrs Teo said.
But she added: “SMT’s Board and management must also be mindful of their public duties, their responsibility to maintain the public’s trust in their newsrooms and journalists, and the need to discharge these responsibilities in a diligent and timely manner.”
She also said that SMT will be held to account when it receives Government funding.
In this regard, the Government’s focus is on readership and reach, which measure how many people read the publications, and not circulation, which measures how many copies are sold or distributed.
Mrs Teo noted that readership and reach are measured through surveys done by third parties, such as research agencies like GfK, external sources such as the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at Oxford University, and the Government’s own surveys.
She added that there are safeguards in place in the Government’s agreement with SMT to ensure public funding is used in an accountable and responsible manner.
The key performance indicators the Government will look at to assess SMT’s performance include the total reach and engagement of the company’s products, especially on digital platforms, and also specific reach indicators for vernacular groups and young people, she said, noting that the indicators will determine the amount of funding.
These indicators and the company’s financial statements must be audited by independent external auditors before they are submitted to the Government, which can also conduct its own audits, she added.
SMT will also have to provide progress updates to the Ministry of Communications and Information on a half-yearly basis.
“Funding will be disbursed only if SMT provides satisfactory regular updates on where and how funding has been utilised, and future business plans. The Government will also review the funding quantum during the midterm and adjust KPIs and funding where necessary,” Mrs Teo said.
She also made a distinction between SPH Media Trust (SMT) and Singapore Press Holdings Limited (SPH), saying that the discrepancy in data was discovered by SMT’s own internal review.
In 2021, then mainboard-listed SPH spun off its media business, which was then incorporated as SMT, a company limited by guarantee, on Dec 1 that year.
Mrs Teo acknowledged that the episode has affected SMT, including its newsrooms and journalists, but said it was too early to speculate more about the issue until the company’s audit and risk committee tasked to investigate releases its findings.
SMT’s board will have to do what is necessary to rectify things if any problem is found and be transparent in how it will do so, she said.
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