Straits Times, The
The Straits Times is Singapore's oldest and longest-running English-language newspaper. It was started in 1845 by Catchick Moses, a prominent Armenian merchant, and Robert Carl Woods, the newspaper's first editor. It began as an eight-page weekly, and expanded to twenty-four pages in 1928. In December 1931, The Sunday Times made its debut and was a great success as the newspaper made efforts to be striking in style as well as content. It was fine-tuned to include popular features as well as light-hearted articles. The newspaper ceased publication during the Japanese occupation, but it quickly reestablished itself and became the bestselling newspaper in the country. In 1956 the newspaper began to print a separate edition in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
In 1984 Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) was formed with the merger of three publicly listed publishing companies: the Straits Times Press (1975) Limited, Times Publishing Berhad, and Singapore News and Publications Limited. In October 1988, Times Publishing Berhad was separated from the group.
Singapore Press Holdings has a monopolistic grip on newspapers published in the Republic of Singapore. The chair of the board of SPH has a close relationship with the ruling party of Singapore, giving the public the impression that the newspaper is being "guided" or "controlled." The newspaper editors, however, regard the newspaper's major mission as "responsible journalism"—in which press freedoms are subsumed under the broader and more important goals of societal stability.
Further Reading
Seow, Francis. (1998). The Media Enthralled: Singapore Revisited. Boulder, CO: Lynne Reiner.
Tan Yew Soon and Soh Yew Peng. (1994) The Development of Singapore's Modern Media Industry. Singapore: Times Academic Press.
This is the complete article, containing 263 words
(approx. 1 page at 300 words per page).
