Sustaining trusted, quality media a key priority: Khaw

As Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) restructures its media business, its key mission will remain unchanged - to preserve trusted, quality newspapers in all four languages and sustain them over the long term, said Mr Khaw Boon Wan, who will chair the new entity.

"Likewise, the values and principles underpinning our brand of journalism remain unchanged: integrity and professionalism of our journalists, and independence of our newsrooms," he said during a town hall with SPH staff yesterday, in a speech that set out his priorities and plans for the future company limited by guarantee (CLG), named SPH Media Trust.

Newsrooms that have been weakened by cost cuts will be beefed up with additional resources to enable them to continue delivering quality journalism to their readers, he said.

To improve the newspapers' digital products and user experience, he sketched out plans to build a "first-class digital tech team" to aid in the transformation, and empower journalists with skills and tools in areas such as graphics, video, design and data.

Former SPH deputy chief executive Patrick Daniel, 66, will return to be interim CEO of SPH Media Trust and help ensure a smooth transition, Mr Khaw announced.

About 2,500 staff will move to SPH Media Trust, and the transition is planned for Sept 1 this year at the earliest, pending approval from shareholders. SPH had 3,875 employees in FY2020.

Like newspapers worldwide, SPH Media has seen its business model severely disrupted by the digital revolution, Mr Khaw said.

The solution is to transfer SPH Media to the CLG, so it can seek public and private funding for costly investments in digital transformation that shareholders have no appetite for, he said.

"We will seek expertise where we lack. We will draw on the lessons of successful digital media transformation efforts elsewhere. We will tap funding support from the Government for capacity building," he added.

Mr Khaw outlined three pressing challenges: how to enhance SPH Media's current digital products; how to grow readership - particularly among the young; and how to grow digital revenue to counter the decline in print revenue.

To transform SPH Media for a digital age, an SPH Media Academy will be set up to train new hires and existing staff, he said. More scholarships will be given out to groom the next generation of journalists.

Mr Khaw expressed optimism that SPH Media Trust will succeed, as it has serious journalists and creative talents in its newsrooms; strong support from Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his Government, which knows that trusted sources of news remain critical to nation building; and support from the business community.

"Our society will be weaker if local mainstream media becomes diminished and cannot provide trustworthy news and analysis," he said.

"Against the onslaught of information - not always factual or accurate, and at times plain falsehoods - trustworthy journalism is a public good and should be supported."

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