SINGAPORE: 80% of readers say ST is important to their lives
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The Straits Times
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
By Oo Gin Lee
Mr. Lawrence Chong, 55, wrote his first letter to The Straits Times' Forum pages only in February.
Now he swears it is a good way for the man-in-the-street to get his views heard.
The public servant, whose new landed home was already wired up, could not see why he had to pay over $2,000 to get cable TV. When he could not resolve this, he wrote to ST Forum.
StarHub responded a week later to explain that the previous owner of the house had defaulted on the cabling fees. Mr Chong eventually settled the matter with StarHub and got his cable channels.
Yesterday, he was among 100 Forum letter writers at ST's fifth annual get-together for new contributors to the Forum page.
Mr Chong suggested the newspaper open up more such pages in the different sections of the paper.
'I guarantee the readership will shoot up,' he joked.
Addressing the Forum writers in the auditorium at Singapore Press Holdings' Toa Payoh premises, ST editor Han Fook Kwang noted that a readership survey in April found that nearly eight in 10 of the paper's readers polled in face-to-face interviews considered it an 'important' or 'must-read'.
He said although news-papers in developed countries like the United States and Britain had declining readerships, ST was holding up.
It was also gratifying to note that ST readers spend more time with their paper, he added: Half the readers take more than 39 minutes to get through it, seven minutes up from 2003.
His audience of Forum writers, committed readers aged from 13 to 60-something, made the ensuing question-and-answer session a lively one. They were not short on ideas for what the paper could cover.
Surgeon Ho Soon Teck, 58, called attention to his unpublished letters about pedestrians here dying at zebra crossings because they did not bother to look out for traffic. Former teacher David Chow called for a feature on parents' perennial complaints about the mathematics paper in the Primary School Leaving Examination.
Mr Han and ST Forum editor Kong Soon Wah were also asked how letters are picked for publication, how the paper maintains balance and accuracy, and whether it operates without 'interference'.
But many agreed with Mr Chong's point -- that the Forum gives a voice to the average Joe.
Paying tribute to Forum writers, Mr Han said: 'ST Forum created citizen journalism. It goes back to the third issue of The Straits Times in July 1845. You are all part of an important historic process which started 162 years ago.' -
i dun read 145th paper!
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Citizen journalism is a worldwide phenomenon due to the advent of digital technology. It is where citizens play an active role in reporting events and posting pictures via blogs to keep the masses informed.
For Han Fook Kwang to say that 'ST created citizen journalism' is surely a slap in the face for the local blogosphere. He means to say that without ST, citizen journalism would have been impossible?
For a press that is fully aware of its low international freedom ranking and then to publish such self-gratifying news unabashedly, strikes a chord with that of totalitarian regimes, doesn't it?
Think Hitler and his propaganda campaign with Goebbels, Mao and his little red book, Stalin and his political repression etc etc. It does also remind me of the Myanmar paper which reported that the Japanese journalist 'caused his own death'. -
Nice booby traps there.Originally posted by 798:i dun read 145th paper! 
Hope it does not hijack this thread though. -
sah buay sek, kong buay nua.
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I think he meant that Citizens were able to write in to forum and get their views published since 1845 with regards to "citizen journalism". However of course not all views were published.
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Really ?
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100% of these 80% have been rhk-ed, thus their brains are not functioning properly
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80% of the pple who knew about it and bothered to reply.
assuming they didn't exclude "abnormalities" -
I'm read ST everyday and i didn't know about this poll
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I doubt the credibility of this survey.
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i think the 100 chosen one are like that forum letters like the one i think i saw in speaker's corner abt the comfirmed template ST will sure published your letters...
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80% of readers say ST is important to their lives
If this is true, it shows how low the level of political awareness and knowledge of Singaporeans really is.
I myself keep a distance away from ST.
However, I do not believe that survey to be representative of Singaporean opinion.
It smells more like propaganda designed to counter this:
Singapore ranked 141 out of 169 in press freedom -- Reporters Without Borders
http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=20796&Valider=OK
http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=24023 -
just like how they want you to believe 'millions' around the world watch the S-League..
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Originally posted by Poh Ah Pak:
I agree that this is mostly likely published to counter ST's low position in press rankings.
80% of readers say ST is important to their lives
If this is true, it shows how low the level of political awareness and knowledge of Singaporeans really is.
I myself keep a distance away from ST.
However, I do not believe that survey to be representative of Singaporean opinion.
It smells more like propaganda designed to counter this:
[b]Singapore ranked 141 out of 169 in press freedom -- Reporters Without Borders
http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=20796&Valider=OK
http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=24023
[/b]
However i think it'll be unfair to judge the level of political awareness and knowledge Singaporeans possess based on the importance ST has on their lives.
There is a reason why many Singaporeans suscribe to ST and read it daily. -
these 80% dont surf net.
only 20% , surf, blog and bother to read , find out about the PAP propoganda.
i agree we are similar to hiltler, goebbels, himmler -
80% of readers say ST is important to their lives? Sounds like they have asked every ST readers. I'm a ST reader, how come they never come and ask me?
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I don't read ST anymore. I turn to other reliable print sources.
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80% of readers
u r surveying wif those readers only read ST izzit?
dun play wif words. -
Another useless propaganda that serves to justify another round of price increase for the ST - since 80% of readers find it important to their lives.
If true, those 80% of readers must be dumb to have participated in such a survey - surveys are always a prelude to some other event to follow. -
There is a reason why many Singaporeans suscribe to ST and read it daily.
Let us say that for some reason, you want to access the english print media in Singapore.
And you don't want anything connected with SPH.
What is your choice?
There is none.
This is the only reason why there are some who read ST daily.
Very sad.
141 media freedom.
Remember that. -
Originally posted by Poh Ah Pak:
singapore improved in the ratings?
80% of readers say ST is important to their lives
If this is true, it shows how low the level of political awareness and knowledge of Singaporeans really is.
I myself keep a distance away from ST.
However, I do not believe that survey to be representative of Singaporean opinion.
It smells more like propaganda designed to counter this:
[b]Singapore ranked 141 out of 169 in press freedom -- Reporters Without Borders
http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=20796&Valider=OK
http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=24023
[/b]
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Probably it's just that the other countries fell more in their ratings than SG in the past year.Originally posted by hisoka:singapore improved in the ratings? -
Dunno abt this poll but I long time already deliberately avoid reading ST. Only seldom, when I have nothing to do in someone's house, I read it to pass time.
Not because of what, I find ST writers/ editors are really good opinion makers. They are so good, after awhile I worry about their effect on me. Rather than having myself becoming dumb, I decided to stay away from reading it.
Meat Pao. -
haha. i read sgforums for my news.
my family suscribe weekends paper la. cuz no one reads anyway.
where got time??? cannot retire early, how to read newspaper??