Stewardship of the Singapore Media: Staying the Course by Mr Patrick Daniel
Singapore’s media landscape has undergone a long series of changes from 1824 when the early colonial-era newspapers were launched. The Straits Times, founded in 1845, has survived to this day as the flagship of SPH Media Trust. In the last two decades, however, with the rapid rise of technology giants and myriad Internet media, legacy news media have suffered severe disruption. What does the future hold for the media and journalism? The 11th S R Nathan Fellow, Mr Patrick Daniel, will examine the pressing issues facing Singapore’s legacy media. Will the new SPH Media Trust, which will receive government funding support if approved by Parliament, be independent and offer the diversity of views desired by its audiences? Will Singapore's regulatory regime be eased or tightened? Will global tech platforms and online media be regulated by their governments to prevent the spread of fake news? And what future trends and challenges will Singapore and the media have to contend with next?
Envisioning Desired Futures for Singapore and for the Local Media
Singapore will have to contend with a slew of polarising issues in the years ahead — from geopolitics to the global climate crisis, and from social issues like income inequality to the accelerating technological advances such as artificial intelligence. Tackling these challenges will require an understanding of current trends and where they will take us. Rather than try to forecast Singapore's future trajectories, this lecture will take an alternative approach. It will envision some desired futures for key aspects of our society, and then “backcast” or look back to the present to decide what policies are needed to attain those desired futures. This lecture series will conclude by looking at the desired future for the local news media, in particular the SPH Media Trust. What are the steps it must take to get to its desired future?
Dr Shashi Jayakumar, Senior Fellow & Head of the Centre of Excellence for National Security at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, will moderate the Q&A session for this lecture.
To find out more about Mr Patrick Daniel, the 11th S R Nathan Fellow, click here.
Click here to read the event summary.
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