Case Study – Analysis

Based on the information that was found during our research for the Taiwan print media on their Election, the Singapore print media is very restricted. As Singapore government have control over the Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) and Mediacorp, what is being published on print media is what the government wants us to know and propagate us. Since the independence of Singapore, the People’s Action Party (PAP) has been the ruling party in Singapore and therefore the members of parliament are mostly from PAP. Thus, Singapore print media tend to be more biased towards PAP and causes the print media to be more controlled.

Taking the Singapore general election as a case study, most reports and news published on the print media are more partial towards PAP rather than being equal towards proposition and the opposition parties of Singapore. For example, the newspaper published during the period of General Election, there was more news on PAP as compared to the opposition parties. The Singapore print media seems to be assisting in propagating the readers to vote for PAP compared to the other opposition parties participating in the Singapore General Elections by portraying PAP as a strong party in the prints.

We felt that that the Singapore print media is trying to portray PAP as a strong party to the public. It also conveyed the message to the readers that PAP is a better choice to vote for as compared to the other opposition parties.

The print media controlled by the Singapore Government has its pros and cons.  An advantage of the print media being controlled is that unnecessary information can be filtered before it reaches the readers. For example, as Singapore is a multi-racial and multi-religious country, if a news containing information about race and religion, the government can stop the media from reporting it so as to prevent misunderstandings which may arise after the publication of the news.

The disadvantage of Singapore print media being controlled is that readers will receive very limited information from the prints. For example, during the general elections in Singapore, the print media published a lot of news about PAP whereas there was limited news about the opposition parties participating. This greatly reduces the voters’ chances to understand the other parties, limiting the number of choices to consider during voting. This is unfair to the other parties and for the voters as well because in a way,  the voters are being forced to vote for PAP  as they know more about the party as compared to the opposition parties.

From the information gathered, Taiwan print media is not as restricted compared to Singapore. During their elections, news about all the participating parties was published equally. There is equality and fairness as the readers get to know about all the parties well based on the information being published on the print media. Thus, the voters will have a more thorough understanding of all the parties in Taiwan.

Utilizing the Social Responsibility Theory, Taiwan print media’s role is to serve the audience by providing the true information. It is self-regulated thus it has no restriction on the types of new being published. Whereas for Singapore print media utilizes the Authoritarian Theory. Its role is to support and advance the policies of the government in power. In this case, the government in power for Singapore is PAP, thus the Singapore print media becomes a propaganda platform for PAP.

For both countries’ elections, there are great differences in the way both countries’ media publish their reports on participating parties. We feel that to be equal and fair is important in the media because news should be objective and not biased towards any parties. This also ensures that the information released to the readers are fair and equal because all citizens of the country has the rights to choose their own trusted party during election.

In conclusion, we feel that Taiwan’s print media is a good learning example for Singapore to be fair in all news published on the print media.

Case Study – Comparison of print media

Similarities between China Times and Lianhe Zaobao 

1. Serious vivid
2. Popular
3. Neatly reported
4. Lively title
5. Growing influence

Title: China Times: Ma Ying-jeou missing and leadership style challenges
title: Ma Ying-jeou poll rebound favorable stock market foreign exchange market stabilityReported the style objective.

Read “Lianhe Zaobao” forum, the most impressive of the layout is clear and easy to read, The News Edition seriousness vivid, Supplement dynamic fashion.”Lianhe Zaobao” good use of the picture the to set visual impact center “(CVI in the newspaper, the Center of Visual Impact). The visual center is a concept proposed by B · F Skinner, American psychologist, he thinks a creative harmonious layout, the layout is to arrange a powerful CVI picture is the layout of the most powerful visual stimuli, called the visual center of the readers.

For example, the picture is the most striking element of “Lianhe Zaobao” forum. The headline, main picture usually 4-6 basic column width,35-40 lines, soft colors, sharp image, can produce a strong visual impact, so as to achieve effective to guide the reader to read the whole purpose of the forum.In addition to a major feature of the layout, a large and lively title “Lianhe Zaobao”.

“Lianhe Zaobao” articles the usual headline news section 4-6 column color or black bold headline can see almost every forum. At the same time, the use of the vertical title not only increase the layout changes and the beauty of touch problems forum “flawed”, it is easy to avoid. In addition, through reading the newspaper, it is not difficult to find a common characteristic: the colloquial title of the forum, including the important news, this user-friendly way to win more high level Chinese young readers and newspapers .

Lianhe Zaobao’s front page includes bright colour photo graphics expecially the headlines news. The photos of it can be as big as 1:1 or 1:2 ratio of the page.

Within the newspaper, the photos can be as much as 6 photos per page. Photos about the news is a important tool to bring out the information and messgae behind the news to the readers. Photos also make the news more attractive and appealing to the readers.

 

Similarities between Apple Daily and Lianhe Wanbao   

1. Apple Daily and Lianhe Wanbao focus on entertainment
2. Both the bold style
3. To report the news in a relaxed manner and in plain language
4. Using the amazing title, but to attract the reader’s eyes
5. Influential
6. Reported photos and compelling

 Apple Daily

Apple Daily is mainly editor-oriented and news is in real-time with the emphasis on the visual sense of arrangement based. Therefore, this helps to overcome the limitations of the traditional print media in the past. It also poached talents from a large number of the Taiwan electronic media sector, especially the TV News reporters. Due to the high density of news professionals in Taiwan and the competition within the same industry, many television news reporters started to convert media nature to try their luck at the Apple Daily.

Jimmy Lai once said that: “If Eve had not bite the forbidden fruit (apple), the would be no evil, no right and wrong in the world, and of course, there will not be news.” Apple Daily uses “Apple” in their name as it symbolizes to thoroughly exposed these non-evil conflict, and therefore the media will faithfully report the various events that happens in the human society caused by the Apple in the Eden Garden.

Reporting style:

Unlike other general newspaper, there are no full-color printing and there’s never a full-page advertisement on the front page. Catered to the general taste of the market, the subject of the photographs are not given respect and news regarding a detailed account of the case or accidental processes are often done with comic illustrations or cartoon. Therefore, not changing the outspoken style of the newspaper, Apple Daily in China was banned.Supervision:

Apple Daily also uncovered many political scandals, such as former Commissioner of Inland Revenue; Ho-sang, former Legislative Councillor; Cheng Kai-nam, former Financial Secretary; Mr Antony Leung and etc., leading them to imprisonment or forced to resign.

Astonishing title + Brief reports: 

Apple Daily tend to use astonishing title to attract readers attention, however uses brief reports to cover the whole situation.

Focuses on Entertainment:

 Apple Daily News emphasizes the most on the layout, images, texts and wordings as vice. Often, big photo will appear on the forum or placed on the front page, picture designs, trendy typography, graphic design, large title, brightly colored texts to attract reader’s attention and sales figure. Under the pressure from the market and industries, other newspapers follow suit. as reported in a manner that, in the market under pressure, other newspapers follow suit and become more “Apple-ized”. The practices can associate more with the life of the target audience and their day-to-day topics or shocking subject matter will bring more interest in some of the important but boring themes.

 

Lianhe Wanbao 

Content:

The spread of modern knowledge, to carry forward the traditional culture “to report the news in a relaxed manner and in plain language, news selection and emphasis to reflect the condition of the people for the direction close to the people’s livelihood.

Lianhe Wanbao Focus on the coverage of local dynamic field of entertainment, especially in the entertainment industry and the trends of the local artists, but also big pen and ink, in order to open the market.

Style:

Their main stype would be Bold, innovative editorial. The content are usually depth, objective, rapid, extensive coverage of all kinds of news. It mainly focus on the reported localization society, family and entertainment news.

Case Study – Characteristic

Type of photo used & size of photo

  

Photo Of PAP candidates  

 

Photo Of WP candidates

For singapore Lian He Zao Bao, the type of photo captured for PAP is usually decent and clean, giving the readers a good impression of the party while the photo used for opposition parties are usually distorted causing the party to look not as trustworthy as compared to PAP. The size for PAP photos usually covered a bigger amount of space on a newspaper as compared to opposition parties which usually only covered the amount of 1/10 of a piece of newspaper. As for taiwan media, be it China Times or Apple Daily, the type of photos used for the different parties are generally the same. There wasn’t any preferences of the type of photo used.

Number of reports per day  

For Singapore media reports, the number of reports on PAP is generally more than the number of report covered on the opposition party. It is approximate ratio of 6:4. This shows that Singapore print media is biased towards PAP which we fill that it is unfair.

The length of each report  

Reports on PAP are usually longer than reports for the opposition party. This shows that the Singapore media is trying to portray that PAP is a party with more experiences by giving the readers more information of the party. This is definitely a great advantage for PAP because voters get to know more about the party and understand about them.

As for the opposition party, the reports are usually shorter in length as compared to PAP. This is quite unfair to them because with the lack of information given to the voters, the opposition parties tend to lose supporters which is a disadvantage to them during election.

The photo angle 

Photo of WP candidates

The photos on news reports for the PAP are usually more presentable than the opposition parties. In most of the reports we came across, the photos of PAP candidates during election tend to be formal. This will cause voters to have a better impression of the party. However, the photos of the opposition parties on print media are usually taken from low angle. Low angle photos turn out to be less professional which will affect the impression of them to the voters reading the news. 

 

Case Study – Trend of print media in Singapore & Taiwan

Trend of print media in Singapore

Newspaper is the most common source of print media whereby it is easily accessible to all readers. The one of the first thoughts that came to our mind when we mentioned “newspaper” is probably Singapore Press Holdings (SPH).

This is because SPH alone publishes up to 18 newspaper titles in four languages  and print are its main business. There are 3 million individuals or 77 per cent of people age 15 years old and above, reading at least one of SPH’s news publications daily. With more than 1,000 journalists, including correspondents operating in 20 cities around the world, SPH is well-equipped with the talent and network to deliver quality news and information that covers both domestic and international markets.

(Source: Yearbook of Statistic Singapore 2012)

(Source: SPH Annual Report 2011)

(Source: SPH Annual Report 2011)

(Source: SPH Annual Report 2011)

Building on Print

SPH’s key challenge is to continue to achieve healthy circulation figures and generate good revenue from  its core print products in this digital information age.

Despite competition from other media platforms, SPH print media held its ground firmly with a total newspaper circulation averaging 981,339 copies per day for FY 2011, a slight year-on-year decline of 0.2 per cent.

But there was a growth in circulation for several of their papers. The Straits Times’ average daily circulation registered year-on-year growth of 0.6 per cent to 354,654 copies. The Business Times’ circulation also increased by 1.5 per cent vis-à-vis the previous financial year, while Tamil Murasu continued to enjoy robust growth of 15.3 per cent to 16,747 copies.

SPH continued to introduce new products and rejuvenate existing ones to keep up with changing market needs.  Its Chinese flagship daily Lianhe Zaobao launched a fortnightly Chinese publication, Thumbs Up Junior, for primary one and two student in March, adding to its portfolio of student newspapers which comprises zbCOMMA and Thumbs up. The Central Integrated Newsroom of Shin Min Daily News and Lianhe Wanbao also launched Victory Trail, a bilingual racing guide.

Newsprint Cost Risks

SPH’s financial performance is susceptible to newsprint price volatility. The cyclical fluctuation of newsprint prices has a substantial impact on newspaper publishing costs, and a significant spike in newsprint price or a reduction in the availability of newsprint can adversely affect the company’s core business. Failure to adopt mitigating measures, such as advance stockpiling or appropriate inventory management measures and purchasing strategies, may result in SPH incurring higher production costs and lead to lower operating margins.

Trend of print media in Taiwan

In Taiwan, newspaper publishers have been faced with an ageing readership, declining revenues, sinking circulation figures and a fragmented sense of mission. In particular, hard copy newspapers risk losing a large segment of their readership that exhibits a preference for electronic information and entertainment sources, namely the younger generation who form the majority of Internet users (Nicholas at al., 1997). Elsewhere it has been noted that newspaper readers, who are enviably affluent, educated and middle-class, are getting old and are not being replaced in sufficient numbers (Financial Times, 1995).

Taiwan’s traditional media platforms, especially the newspapers, have the luxury of liberation since Taiwan’s democratization in 1987. With the policy on freedom of press and speech, conversations including topics on the government and military, are openly discussed by the mass media. Currently, in a market of 23 million, Taiwan’s media landscape is bustling. It houses seven 24-hour news stations, more than 4,000 magazine publishers, approximately 200 radio stations, and about 2,500 newspaper publishers.

Case Study – Elections in the past

General Elections in pre-independent Singapore

1948- The first Legislative Council election was held on 20 March 1948. It was to select 6 members to the Legislative Council. The Singapore Progressive Party (SPP) won 3 seats while the rest of the seats went to Independent candidates.

1951- 2^nd Legislative Council election held in March. The number of seats increased from 6 to 9. The SPP won 6 seats, Labour Party (SLP) won 2 and the last seat was won by Independent Candidate.

1955-  “the first lively political contest in Singapore’s history”. Labour Front won 10 out of 25 seats, People’s Action Party (PAP) won 3 seats, the Democratic Party won 2 seats, the Progressive Party won 4 seats, UMNO-MCA won 3 seats while 3 seats went to the Independent Candidates. David Marshall then became the first Singapore’s Chief Minister.

1957- Election for the first fully elected City Council in December.

1959- Self government. 30 May 1959, General Election was help to choose 51 representatives to the first fully elected Legislative Assembly. PAP won 43 out of 51 seats and Lee Kuan Yew became the first Singapore Prime Minister.

1963- Singapore merged with Malaysia. An election was held in September to elect 51 seats for the first five years of Independence within Malaysia. PAP won 37 out of the 51 seats, Barisan Socialis won 13 seats and the United People’s Party won one seat.

 

General Elections after independence

1968- 5 independent candidates, 2 main parties contesting which consist of PAP and the Workers’ Party. PAP won all 58 seats and then Singapore only had 1 party ruling.

1972- PAP again won all 65 seats.

1976 and 1980- PAP had won victory for all seats.

1984- PAP won 77 seats and lost the other two to Singapore Democratic Party and Workers’ Party.

1988- PAP won 80 seats and lost one to the Singapore Democratic Party.

1991- 

PAP won 77 seats, Singapore Democratic Party won 3 seats while Workers’ Party won 1 seat.

1997- PAP had won 81 seats and lost two to the Workers’ Party and Singapore Democratic Party.

2001- PAP won 82 out of the 84 seats contested.

2006- PAP won 82 out of 84 seats.

2011- PAP won 81 out of 87 seats. Workers’ Party won a GRC for the first time, grabbing 5 seats in the Aljunied GRC.

Background of Singapore’s Past Election

GE 1948: The first Legislative Council election was held on 20^th March 1948. It was to  elect 6 members to the Legislative Council. The Singapore Progressive Party (SPP) won 3 seats while the  remaining seats went to Independent candidates.

GE 1951: The second Legislative Council election was held in March. The number of seats increased from 6 to 9. The SPP won 6 seats, Labour Party (SLP) won 2 and the last seat went to an Independent Candidate.

GE 1955: A new Constitution, Rendel Constitution, was introduced. The Legislative Council gave way to Legislative Assembly, and voters would elect 25 out of 32 council members. Held on 02 Apr 1955, this election was best known as “the first lively political contest in Singapore’s history”. David Marshall became the first Chief Minister in Singapore, leading a coalition government comprised of Labour Front, the United Malays National Organisation and the Malayan Chinese Association.

GE 1959: Singapore was granted  self-government. On 30^th May 1959, General Election was  held to elect 51 representatives to the first fully elected Legislative Assembly. PAP won 43 out of 51 seats and Lee Kuan Yew became the first Singapore Prime Minister.

GE 1963:  In 1963, Singapore merged with the Federation of Malaysia, thus marking the end of a period of British rule in Singapore. On 21^st September 1963, an election was held to decide the composition of 51 seats of the Legislative Assembly for the first five years of Independence within Malaysia. PAP won 37 seats out of 51 at the Legislative Assembly General Elections.

GE 1968:  Only seven wards was contested in the General Election held on 13 Apr 1968.  This means that 51 out of 58 wards were uncontested. The two political parties that contested in this election was People’s Action Party and Workers’ Party. A total of 65 candidates contested, and five of them were Independent candidates. The leading party, People’s Action Party, won all 58 seats  in this election, resulting in a single party rule.

GE 1972: There were six political parties contested in the General Election held on 2^nd  September 1972. Sixty-five wards were up for contestation but only 57 seats were contested by 137 candidates. The People’s Action Party (PAP) won all the seats for the second time. PAP won eight seats on Nomination day, and the remaining 57 seats were contested by 7 political parties. PAP sent 57 candidates, while United National Front (UNF) sent 33 candidates. Workers’ Party (WP) sent 27 candidates, Barisan Sosialis had 10 candidates, People’s Front had 7, and PKMS had 2 candidates. There were two Independent candidates.

GE 1976: Sixty-nine wards were up for contestation for the General Election held on 23^rd December 1976. 124 candidates from seven different political parties were  vying for the 53 seats in the Legislative Assembly. For the third time, the People’s Action Party won all the seats.

GE 1980: The General Election was held on 23^rd December 1980. People’s Action Party won all the 75 seats, returning to power once more.  The issues of concern to PAP were continuity and consolidation, whereas the opposition parties were concerned over democracy, or rather, having an opposition in the Parliament, to support rights for minority and care for the poor.

GE 1984: For four consecutive elections, Singapore had a single-party rule. On the General Election held on 22^nd December 1984, PAP lost two seats to the opposition parties, Singapore Democratic Party  and Workers’ Party respectively. This General Election saw 97 candidates from nine parties vying for 49 contested seats.

GE 1988: The concept of Group Representation Constituencies (GRCs) was introduced at the election held on 3^rd September 1988. A total of eight parties participated in the General Election, sending a total of 156 candidates including 4 Independent candidates. Chiam See Tong of Singapore Democratic Party won the ward. PAP retained all constituencies except Potong Pasir.

GE 1991: There were 81 seats up for contestation for the General Election held on 31^st August 1991. PAP won 77 seats whereas four seats went to opposition parties. Three seats went to Singapore Democratic Party and one went to Workers’ Party. Ling How Doong (SDP) won a seat in Bukit Gombak, Cheo Chai Chen (SDP) won a seat in Nee Soon Central, Chiam See Tong (SDP) retained his Potong Pasir ward, and Low Thia Khiang (WP) won a seat in Hougang.

GE 1997: The General Election was held on 2^nd January 1997. Forty-seven PAP candidates returned unopposed, whereas 36 candidates vie for the contested seats. PAP won 81 seats but lost two to the Workers’ Party and Singapore People’s Party. Low Thia Kiang (WP) and Chiam See Tong (SPP) managed to retain their wards and PAP was able to reclaim Bukit Gombak and Nee Soon Central wards. SDP was voted out of Parliament. J. B. Jeyaretnam was appointed as Non-Constituency MP (NCMP).

GE 2001: There were 59 candidates vying for 29 seats for the General Election held on 3^rd November 2001. PAP managed to gained all  except two seats to the opposition parties. Chiam See Tong (SDA) and Low Thia Kiang (WP) from the opposition parties retained their seats in Potong Pasir and Hougang respectively. Steve Chia (SDA) was appointed as a NCMP.

GE 2006: A total of 131 candidates from four political parties participated in the General Election held on 6^th May 2006. A total of 84 seats were up for contestation, but 37 seats were walked over, therefore 47 seats were contested. PAP won 82 seats while Chiam See Tong of the Singapore Democratic Alliance and Low Thia Kiang from Workers’ Party each retained their respective wards in Potong Pasir and Hougang.

Background of Taiwan’s Past Election

The supreme electoral law for Taiwan’s elections came from The Constitution of the Republic of China. Article 17 of the Constitution implies that people have the rights to vote and in addition, the law is made relevant to the National Assembly, the Legislative, Local Monitoring, Provincial and the base of Taiwan Election section.

Taiwan election begin in the year 1935. During that period, under the 3-in-1 regulations of Taiwan, there was no gender limit and the amount of properties the candidates had was not taken into consideration.

The Taiwan election was held twice in 1935 and 1939 during the Japanese occupation. However, the elections came to a standstill after the outbreak of World War II

In 1945, Taiwan entered the Republic of China’s era and the National Government  proceeded on to promote Taiwan’s democratization with the elections.

In 1946, the Taiwan Provincial Administrative Office held various township elections to the public on behalf of universal suffrage.

The Taiwan Province sent representatives to the capital of Nanjing to participate in the Constituent National Assembly convened in 1946. The constitution of the Republic of China was state to be the highest source of law for the Republic of China.

On 21st November 1947, the republic of China had their first Legislative committee and National election whereby Taiwan  also participated in. Taiwan elected 18 candidates to represent the nation and 7 to enter the Legislative committee. They headed to Nan Jing to attend a meeting on 29th March 1948  whereby the vice president of China was being chosen.

Since 1950, The Taiwan’s local village mayor and chairperson, Village’s representative, magistrates and city mayors, councillors and provincial assembly members are elected by their own people.  The National Assembly will elect the president and vice president Constitution  with regards to the civil war factors.

Since 1950, The Taiwan’s local village mayor and chairperson, Village’s representative, magistrates and city mayors, councillors and provincial assembly members are elected by their own people. The National Assembly will elect the president and vice president Constitution with regards to the civil war factors.

The Chinese Nationalist Party presidential candidate Lee Teng-hui was elected as the president of the Republic of China in 1996.

In 2000, the Democratic Progressive Party candidate Chen Shui-bian was elected as the president.

In 2008, the Chinese Nationalist Party candidate Ma Ying-jeou was elected as the president.

Taiwan can be broadly divided into two major political forces, mainly the pro-blue party supporting the Chinese Nationalist Party and the pro-green party supporting the Democratic Progressive Party. Taoyuan, Taipei City, New Taipei City are pro-blue while Lu Zhu, Da Yuan, Guan Yin and the new homes along the coast of Taoyuan are pro-green. Gao Hsiung  tends to be more supportive  of the green. However, Military dependents’ village Zuoying District also holds a strong and firm footing in the election which results in the Victory of Chinese National.

How audience affect the changes in Media

Audience activity in the media transaction may function to promote or to deter media effects. Facilitative activity includes selectivity, attention, and involvement. Inhibitory activity includes avoidance, distraction, and skepticism. The authors expected instrumental media motivation, selectivity, attention, and involvement to be positive predictors of satisfaction, parasocial interaction, and cultivation effects from watching daytime television serials. They expected avoidance, distraction, and skepticism to be negative predictors of those effects. Three path analyses largely supported their expectations.

Bonnie Peng (1992) means that all advanced democracies think this is an era of media politics, the media manipulate almost the entire political process, the reaction from the most basic of political socialization to the overall public opinion environment, are in can highlight the mediathe ubiquitous nature. As for how the media reporters to report the news content will not only form a public perception of reality, may also affect the attitudes and behavior of audiences (Graber, 1997).

The dependency model of media effects is presented as a theoretical alternative in which the nature of the tripartite audience-media-society relationship is assumed to most directly determine many of the effects that the media have on people and society. The present paper focuses upon audience dependency on media information resources as a key interactive condition for alteration of audience beliefs, behavior, or feelings as a result of mass communicated in formation. Audience dependency is said to be high in societies in which the media serve many central information functions and in periods of rapid social change or pervasive social conflict. The dependency model is further elaborated and illustrated by examination of several cognitive, affective, and behavioral effects which may be readily analyzed and researched from such theoretical framework.

 

How are prints being regulated? (Singapore)

Printing and Publishing

Local printing and publishing of books require no licence. However, printing presses have to be licensed and a printing permit is required for newspapers, magazines and other periodicals. International and regional publications (e.g. TIME, International Herald Tribune, Economist and Asahi Shimbun) print their Asian editions in Singapore. The master copy is transmitted via satellite and printed and distributed regionally from Singapore.

Newspaper permit

Under the Newspaper and Printing Presses Act, you need to apply for a permit to:

·      Print or publish a periodical in Singapore at regular or irregular intervals;

·      Sell or distribute a Malaysian periodical in Singapore;

·      Sell or distribute an offshore newspaper (300 copies or more) in Singapore. An offshore newspaper is a newspaper published outside Singapore, at an interval of not more than a week and which carries news or reports on current affairs and politics of any country in Southeast Asia.

http://app.mica.gov.sg/Default.aspx?tabid=173

Newspapers and Printing Presses Act (Cap 206) (‘NPPA’)

The NPPA regulates the print media industry in Singapore in relation to the establishment and operation of newspaper and magazine companies.

In Singapore, by virtue of the NPPA, you will need a:

(a)     licence to use the printing press to print documents which could be in the form of printed newspapers, printed pamphlets, leaflets, maps, charts, plans and includes any documents bound together;

(b)     permit to publish a newspaper in Singapore (including local periodicals);

(c)     permit to sell and distribute in Singapore newspapers that are printed or published in Malaysia; and

(d)     permit to sell and distribute foreign newspapers in Singapore.

The grant of the licence or permit to print and/or publish is completely at the discretion of the Minister. The license or permit is valid for a period of one year from the date of its issue.

Ownership and control of newspaper companies

The NPPA imposes certain restrictions on ownership and control of a newspaper company. A ‘newspaper company’ is a public company limited by shares which has the following special features:

(a)     all its directors must be Singapore citizens;

(b)     there are two classes of shares, namely, management and ordinary shares; and

(c)     the management shares may not be issued or transferred except to citizens of Singapore or corporations approved by the Minister.

In addition, the NPPA restricts ownership of a newspaper company by requiring any person to seek approval from the Minister in order to become a substantial shareholder of a newspaper company or a 12% controller of the company, ie being in a position to control, whether directly or indirectly, of not less than 12% voting power in the newspaper company.

It is also an offence for any person, without obtaining the prior consent of the Minister, to receive on behalf of any newspaper, funds from any foreign source, whether a foreign government, foreign company or a foreign person. The Minister will give his approval if he is satisfied that the funds from the foreign source are intended for bona fide commercial purposes.

Undesirable Publications Act (Cap 338) (‘UPA’)

The UPA prevents the importation, distribution or reproduction of publications that are obscene and objectionable. A publication is deemed as obscene if it tends to deprave and corrupt persons who are likely to read, see or hear the matter contained or embodied in it.

A publication is deemed as objectionable if it portrays:

(a)     matters such as sex, horror, crime, cruelty, violence or the consumption of drugs or other intoxicating substances in such a manner that the availability of the publication is likely to be injurious to the public good; or

(b)     matters of race or religion in such a manner that the availability of the publication is likely to cause feelings of enmity, hatred, ill-will or hostility between different racial or religious groups.

Under the UPA, the Minister has the discretion to prohibit the importation, sale and circulation of any publication if the Minister is of the opinion that such publications are contrary to public interest. Publications which are banned are set out under a Schedule to the UPA titled ‘Undesirable Publications (Prohibitions) (Consolidation (Order)’. At present, there are over 250 publications which are banned, including men’s magazines such as Playboy and Mayfair.

However, MDA periodically reviews the list of banned publications, and at the appropriate juncture, may lift the ban on a publication. For example, on 2 September 2004, MDA decided to allow the sale and distribution of the adult-interest magazine Cosmopolitan, following the recommendation of the Censorship Review Committee 2002/2003 to allow the sale and distribution of publications with adult content, provided they do not contain exploitative sex and nudity.

How are prints being regulated? (Taiwan)

Imbedded marketing was raised by local media as a problem. Politicians also criticised the practice. However, Mainland Affairs Council Minister, Lai Shin-Yuan, said there was no law in Taiwan regulating the content of print media, because the Publication Act was abolished in 1999, leaving self regulation by the media. Taiwanese media are barred from publishing advertisements provided by unauthorized Chinese advertisers.

Also in the first half of 2012, a Chinese Nationalist Party lawmaker accused two journalists of defamation for reporting on alleged pressure put on the National Communications Commission over the Want Want bid.

In April, a Taiwanese correspondent covering vice president elect Wu Den-Yih’s visit to China’s Hainan Island was treated roughly by Chinese security, who stripped away a photojournalist’s press pass and took him away by force, according to the Taipei Timesnewspaper. The journalist was eventually released from custody after a confrontation between other Taiwanese journalists and security authorities.

5.11 The National Press Council of the Republic of China in Taiwan takes the
“Code of Ethics of Chinese Journalists,” the “Code of Ethics for the Republic of China
Press,” the “Code of Ethics for the Republic of China Radio Broadcasting,” and the
“Code of Ethics for the Republic of China Television” as the basis for its deliberations
and resolutions on cases submitted to it.  English translations of these codes are
provided by the Council which are at Appendixes II, III and IV .

5.12 Provisions concerning the protection of privacy in the “Code of Ethics for the
Republic of China Press,” include:
II (3): News reporters covering victims at a hospital or at an accident site shall
observe the regulations of the hospital or obtain the permission of the
persons involved.  Reporters shall not interrupt treatment or
emergency measures, and photographs shall not be taken against the
wishes of the hospital or the persons involved.
III (3): Unless it effects the public interest, no news shall be reported that
invades person’s privacy.
III (4): Unless first investigated and proved true and connected with the public
interest, no news shall be reported that charges, exposes or condemns a
person or an organization of any wrongdoing.  When such news is
reported it shall be based on the principles of balance and accuracy.
III (6): If a news report has stained a person’s reputation, the newspaper shall
provide space in the same location for the aggrieved party to defend
itself or to present its case.
IV (4): Names, addresses or any other information enough to identify a juvenile
suspect or delinquent shall not be published.
IV (5): Rapes shall not be reported unless they represent a danger to public
safety or involve an aggravated crime.  Names, addresses or any other
information enough to identify the victim shall not be kept from the
public.
V (4): No commentary on a person’s private life shall be made if it has
nothing to do with the public interest.
VII (4): No pictures of a person’s private life shall be published without the
permission of the person involved.

The media industry in Taiwan has flourished since the lifting of newspaper
restrictions in 1988 and the subsequent opening up of television channels,
with the number of newspapers jumping to 360 in 1998 from a mere 31 back in 1987.
In addition, there are more than 100 cable TV systems in operation. Since 1995, the
Government in Taiwan has spared no efforts to promote Taiwan as an Asia-Pacific
Media Center with the aim of turning Taiwan into a regional production and distribution
hub for Chinese language films and TV programmes.

3.2 The development of the mass media in Taiwan has been affected by political,
cultural and economic factors. Generally speaking, the mass media in Taiwan have
moved from a closed system to a pluralistic and market-oriented one. Of course, the
flourishing of the mass media in Taiwan has not been trouble-free. It has also
encountered various problems, such as the media’s social responsibilities and the abuse
of the freedom of the press. In recent years, Taiwan has promulgated a number of laws
and regulations on the mass media. Taiwan also has its own media self-regulatory
mechanism.

Before 1988, newspaper restrictions were imposed in Taiwan. The legal basis for the restrictions was the National Mobilization Law（國家總動員法）and the Publication Law（出版法 ). In 1951, the Executive Council（行政院 ）imposed strict restrictions on the registration of newspapers, magazines and news agencies in accordance with these two laws. As a result, the total number of newspapers in Taiwan had remained at 31 for a long time. During the imposition of newspaper restrictions, the government agencies responsible for the regulation of the mass media included the Government Information Office under the Executive Council, the Taiwan Garrison Command under the Ministry of National Defence and the Department of Cultural Affairs of the Kuomintang. The Kuomintang also directly owned a number of newspapers and TV stations.  The newspaper restrictions in Taiwan were lifted on 1 January 1988.