I suspected you read it from there to. I read it too. :mrgreen:
Quite frankly, I no longer trust the local media anymore. Especially on its coverage on political and political related issues.
That's a bit harsh... I'm a media student and so I take the defence of the local media on this.
Starting with the very obvious, how any form of press in the world survive is through the single means of advertising. Just to shed a light it probably costs more than the 80 cents you pay for a copy to produce one copy of the Straits Times (all costs considered).
And next, consider with all the information in the world today, editors have to take a very strong consideration as to what to put in the paper because of the limitations space-wise in a spreadsheet newspaper. So putting in the newsworthy articles (prominent, in our locality, impactful, et cetera) and advertorial commitments you can pretty much gauge how much space is left. By their own doing and Singaporeans' general political apathy there is little interest in the political scene in Singapore, and hence printing every political piece is not feasible because i) the general public doesn't really care and ii) politics is a messy business.
Thirdly, and this is a very important point, the media in Singapore was not meant to be a 'Fourth Estate' like in the UK or the USA. It was and still is meant to act in the interests of the country: continued economic growth on the premise of political, economic and social stability. Everyone knows how the media can be very influential in shaping public opinion, so it has to be careful what it publishes doesn't cause any sort of turbulence to the stability of the country.
And you must remember, even in Singapore journalists and press companies write based on the principle of 'objectivity', that means taking no sides. Apart from the features, opinion and forum pages which are 'opinion' pieces you will notice that news articles adopt a direct quotation, paraphrased quotation, and factual account of news stories. And as far as it is available the views of both sides are showcased in the same story. But remember the mandate of the local press: stability.
Providing undue coverage of Singaporean politics tends to have a de-stabilizing impact on the framework of the country, especially from a foreign POV. That is definitely something you want to avoid especially since Singapore's position is fragile and dependent heavily on how others view it's stability. That refers to the foreign investors and all those stuff which I won't repeat.
What I really mean is, covering too much of the negative side of Singaporean politics will give it too much attention, and gives the entire issue a 'connotation' that it is actually a very big deal when it is not. Hence editors have to place due weightage on what they feel is the scale of the event.
It's not an easy job, I mean they are but mere mortals. But they have to suffer the critiques of armchair readers and commentators who do not have to undergo the same level of pressure.
I would, however readily admit that the level and quality of the opinion pages can still be improved.
And, contrary to popular belief, there are NO RESTRICTION on the Singapore Press system, other than through licensing. In other words news pieces are not 'censored' by some Government Authority before they are printed. All this are done in-house by editors who judge in the best interests of their mandate.
In fact, it is relatively easy to get a license to publish in Singapore. You can just apply online through MDA's website. Of course, taking note of the above you can't exactly expect to have a political magazine approved, even if you plan to glamorize the PAP through it.
So, I hope you have a bit more confidence in your own country's press, for in it there are truly good-natured people who make it their commitment to keep the entire population informed in a fair, balanced and timely manner.
Otherwise, yeah THAT new paper piece was entertaining :mrgreen:
