Budget debate: Govt cannot be half-hearted about funding local media's transformation, says Josephine Teo

ST PHOTO: GAVIN FOO

SINGAPORE - The Government cannot be half-hearted about funding local media to support their transformation, said Minister for Communications and Information Josephine Teo on Friday (March 4).

Mrs Teo said: "When compared to the investments seen elsewhere in the world, the amount of funding to support our local media's transformation must be meaningful in order for their efforts to have a chance to succeed. We cannot be half-hearted about it."

Speaking during the debate on her ministry's budget, she addressed points made by Non-Constituency MP Leong Mun Wai from the Progress Singapore Party who had asked if the Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) listed company could be made to contribute more to SPH Media Trust (SMT).

He also asked about plans to recoup the up to $900 million funding support pledged by the Government for the next five years, and if there was an "exit plan" after that duration.

Mr Leong said the property assets of SPH are estimated to be worth at least $3.9 billion, with an expected annual cash flow of $300 million, and questioned why taxpayers have to instead "foot the bill" of SMT for the next five years.

Mrs Teo noted that SPH shareholders had voted and agreed to an initial injection of $80 million cash and $30 million worth of shares for SMT.

If the restructuring proposal involved an even higher contribution, the shareholders could have walked away, she said.

The SMT - a company limited by guarantee - might not have been formed, and the SPH media business could have remained on its trajectory of decline, with scant hope for revival, she added.

"In time to come, there would be nothing worthwhile to preserve."

SPH Media spun off from mainboard-listed company SPH to become a not-for-profit entity SMT last December.

Mrs Teo said that local media companies serve a broader mission beyond commercial success, such as by providing a Singapore lens to make sense of global events, presenting an authoritative source of information amid clickbait and misinformation, and by producing content in the official languages that celebrates the country's diverse culture.

This helps to keep Singaporeans united, and is why the Government has put its support behind the SMT, she said.

She also said Mr Leong’s claim that SMT is government-owned is incorrect, adding that if it was, then public funding would not be an issue.

She added that the Government will also keep local media accountable as it provides funding for its transformation.

She noted that local media, like media outlets across the world, have seen their advertising and subscription revenue drastically reduced, buffeted by the rise of digital content platforms and new avenues for free content.

Additionally, while local media enjoys good reach - Mediacorp and SMT reach 96 per cent of Singaporeans - there are no easy answers on how to monetise this reach.

Mrs Teo said: "We hope that they can become self-sustaining, but it remains to be seen whether or when this can happen."

She added that attention should be directed on charting the way forward, such as on how the media can better meet needs of different demographics, which was a concern raised by Ms Hany Soh (Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC).

Some examples include how Mediacorp is working to sustain dialect radio news broadcasts and its production of an animated series on sustainability and environmental awareness.

"Left to the free market, such programmes are unlikely to be viable. I therefore urge Members to give our local media and journalists their fullest support, because they deserve it," Mrs Teo said.

As the media industry adapts to digitalisation, exciting new opportunities have also emerged, she said.

Singapore is well positioned to benefit from them, due to its robust intellectual property and legal frameworks and role as a connector between markets and cultures, she said.

Global names such as Walt Disney, iQiyi, WarnerMedia and Netflix have established a presence here alongside home-grown such as like Beach House Pictures, one of Asia's largest independent production companies, she added.

The Government will continue to support these companies and local talent, she said. It will explore new partnerships with creator networks such as Titan Digital Media, platforms like YouTube, TikTok and Twitch, and online creators.

It will also partner industry to improve content quality and better understand viewer preferences through data, artificial intelligence and virtual production.

"These efforts will position us as a hub for content that is both 'Made in Singapore' and 'Made with Singapore'," said Mrs Teo.

Later in the debate, Mr Leong asked again about the Government’s decision to “allow the shareholders to take away all the assets and leave behind a $900 million baby (as a burden to the taxpayer).

Mrs Teo said she recognised that it was not a small amount, which was why there had been full accountability to Parliament.

She added: “These are not figures that are out of whack when we look at other countries’ investments, or the kinds of media businesses having to make the investments. So it would appear to me that the fundamental difference is that Mr Leong or the PSP simply does not value our local mainstream media as much as the Government.”

In a question posed after Mrs Teo’s speech, Leader of the Opposition and Workers’ Party chief Pritam Singh asked how far  the Government went  in requiring SPH to transfer segments of its business to allow SMT to be self-funded as far as possible, given the range of assets owned by SPH, when SPH’s proposal to hive off its media business was formed.

In response, Mrs Teo said that it was not a case of how much the Government pushes the shareholders, as ultimately the formation of SMT was a restructuring of a media business that existed within a listed company.

She said: “And so as things go, it is the proposal that is made by the management to the shareholders that must pass muster. And this was the proposal that passed muster.

“It is a matter of speculation whether the restructuring proposal could have gone through with even higher contribution and if it hadn’t gone through, then this whole restructuring exercise would not have been able to proceed, in which case then I think we are stuck with an even bigger problem.”

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