The TODAY newspaper turns four today, and it marks the occasion with the news that it is set not just to turn around financially this year but to report a profit.
Mr Ernest Wong, Group Chief Executive Officer of TODAY's parent company MediaCorp, on Tuesday said: "TODAY is on track to record its first profit this year. I am more than happy with its progress. TODAY is the first newspaper to succeed in competing against the Singapore Press Holdings Group."
He pointed out that in a time of declining newspaper readership, TODAY has bucked the trend and increased its reach to more than half a million readers — in particular, professionals, managers, executives and businessmen and women.
This proves, Mr Wong said, that Singapore, with an annual print advertising revenue pie of $600 million, has space enough for two or more newspaper groups.
TODAY chief executive officer and editor-in-chief Mano Sabnani said: "We've hit on a successful model, and moving forward, we will stay the course."
Advertisers, he added, enjoy good yield from their presence in TODAY because of its targeted demographic distribution and high readership of the morning, afternoon and online editions.
TODAY's special touch is to give voice to its readers, and so as we celebrate our fourth birthday, we asked readers — business leaders, politicians, and ordinary citizens — for their views about the paper. - TODAY