Dear TRS, Online Media Will Only be Shut Down if the Mainstream Media is Freed

[This article has been translated from Chinese by TRS for our English-speaking readers]

Dear TRS,

I read recently that Singapore Press Holdings saw a 10% drop in print media profits since two years ago and are now seeing low circulation rates on their print media.

I think that a lot of this is to do with more Singaporeans waking up and reading their news online and through more alternative means such as websites like TRS.

Although some of it could be because more people read news digitally, personally, I know more and more of my work colleagues, friends and family are moving away from SPH media and going online.

We have suddenly been seeing more new alternative news websites popping up in Singapore and I believe that Singaporeans are waking up and realising that the news printed in Straits Times and other Mainstream Media is very bias, particularly on topics to do with politics.

I know that I am sick of always reading one-sided reports about politics and this bias is pushing more readers away from mainstream media.

While they could blame the global trend of consumers reading digital news more than print media, I think that they cannot ignore the factors in Singapore related to the restricted media.

The government is constantly trying to shut down the online media such as with the regulations of MDA and we recently saw a number of alternative sites being asked to register.

For Print media, the government has the Newspapers and Printing Presses Act to make sure that no new media outlets can open up without government approval.​