The Straits Times is an English-language daily broadsheet newspaper based in
Singapore currently owned by Singapore Press Holdings. It is the country's
highest-selling paper, with a current Sunday Times circulation of nearly
365,800. Originally established on 15 July 1845
as the The Straits Times and Singapore Journal of Commerce, in the early days
of British colonial rule, and may be considered the successor to various
other newspapers during the time such as the Singapore Chronicle. After Singapore
became independent from Malaysia on 9 August 1965, the paper became more
focused on the island leading to the creation of the New Straits Times for
Malaysian readers. SPH also publishes two other
English-language dailies; the broadsheet The Business Times and The New Paper
tabloid. The Straits Times is a member of the Asia News Network.
History The Straits Times was started by an
Armenian, Catchick Moses. Moses's friend, Martyrose Apcar, had intended to
start a local paper, but met with financial difficulties. To fulfil his
friend's dream, Moses took over and appointed Robert Carr Woods as editor.
On 15 July 1845, The Straits Times was launched as an eight-page weekly,
published at 7 Commercial Square using a hand-operated press. The subscription
fee then was Sp.$1.75 per month. In September 1846, he sold the paper to
Robert Woods because the press proved unprofitable to run.
On 20 February 1942, five days after the British had surrendered to the Japanese,
The Straits Times became known as The Shonan Times and The Syonan Shimbun.
This name change lasted until 5 September 1945, when Singapore returned
to British rule. Coverage
The Straits Times functions with 16 bureaus and special correspondents in
major cities worldwide. The paper itself is published in four segments: the main
section focuses on Asian and international news, with sub-sections of
columns and editorials and the "Forum Page". The "Home" section focuses on
local news, together with sports and finance pages, which sometimes may be
separated into a different section themselves. There is a classified ads
and job listing section, followed by a separate lifestyle, entertainment and
the arts section that is titled "Life!". On Saturdays, there is a separate
"Saturday" section, which includes a special report, and a science section,
which reports on latest scientific developments.
Currently the newspaper publishes three weekly pull-outs. All three pull-outs
are printed in tabloid format. The newspaper also publishes special
editions for primary and secondary schools in Singapore. The primary-school
version contains a special pull-out, titled "Little Red Dot" and the
secondary-school version contains a pull-out titled "In".
The Straits Times is the only English language newspaper with an active
Internet forum in Singapore. A separate edition The Sunday Times is published on
Sundays. Straits Times Online
Launched on 1 January 1994, The Straits Times' website was free of charge and
granted access to all the sections and articles found in the print edition. On
1 January 2005, the online version began requiring registration and after a short
period became a paid-access-only site. Currently, only people who subscribe to
the online edition can read all the articles on the Internet, including the
frequently updated "Latest News" section.
A free section, featuring a selection of news stories, is currently available at
the site. Regular podcast, vodcast and twice-daily—mid-day and evening
updates—radio-news bulletins are also available for free online.
The Straits Times's decision to make its online edition almost entirely
subscription-funded is in contrast to other traditional newspapers online
editions, which often charge only for certain sections, such as archives, or
for digital editions. Community programmes
= The Straits Times School Pocket Money Fund =
The Straits Times School Pocket Money Fund was initiated on October 1, 1993 by
The Straits Times, to heighten public awareness of the plight of children from
low-income families who were attending school without proper breakfast, or
pocket money to sustain their day in school.
The aim is to alleviate the financial burden faced by parents in providing for
their children's education. At the same time the funds will help children who
are already facing difficulties in remaining in school to stay on.
= The Straits Times Media Club = The Straits Times Media Club is a youth
programme to encourage youth readership and interest in news and current
affairs. Schools will have to subscribe for at least 500 copies, and will
receive their papers every Monday. A youth newspaper, IN, is slotted in
together with the main paper for the students.
= The Straits Times School of Rock Competition =
The Straits Times School of Rock Competition was incepted in 2005.
Budding young bands with members aged between 13 to 18 compete to be the
ultimate youth band in Singapore. The finals of the competition was held at a
local shopping mall in small town, Junction 8 Shopping Centre on 1 January
2005. = The Straits Times National Youth Media
Competition = The Straits Times National Youth Media
Competition started its inaugural year in 2005. 20 schools will qualify for the
semi-finals based on their school newsletters, and 10 schools will make it
to the finals. Teams of six, whose members ranged in age from 13 to 17
years, represent their local secondary and international schools. These 10
schools then participate in the finals at the SPH News Centre, where students
gleaned tips from ST journalist mentors and get to quiz a cabinet minister in a
mock press conference. In the 2013 edition, the winning team will win a
$3,000 cash prize, Canon Pixma printers and a three-week internship in The
Straits Times newsroom. Prior to the 2013 edition of this event, it was
called the "Straits Times National Schools Newspaper Competition".
Other incidents Owing to political sensitivities, The
Straits Times is not sold in neighboring Malaysia, and the Malaysian newspaper
New Straits Times is not sold in Singapore. The ban was imposed before
the 31 August 1957 general election in Malaysia. On 1 January 2005, the
governments of both countries discussed lifting the ban with Singapore's former
Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew speaking in favour of such a move, although
Malaysian politicians were more wary. At one point during a dispute over the sale
of water, the newspaper was banned in Malaysia.
Editors Notable personalities
Catchick Moses, the Armenian founder of the paper
Robert Carr Woods, the paper's first editor
Susan Long, John McBeth, columnist since 2004
Ching Cheong, Koh Buck Song, columnist 1990-99,
2004–05 Miel Prudencio Ma,
Ernest Corea, Features Editor and Foreign Affairs columnist
Pereira Derwin, former US and Indonesia Bureau Chief.
Tessa Wong, former journalist brought to fame for writing the opinion piece "Zero
tolerance for intolerance". Criticism
The newspaper has been attacked as "the mouthpiece of the ruling party,". The
Newspaper and Printing Presses Act of 1974 requires all newspapers to be
publicly listed into both ordinary and management shares, with management
shares having 200 times the voting rights of ordinary shares and approval
from the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts needed for
any management share transfers. Past chairpersons of Singapore Press Holdings
have been civil servants. SPH's former executive president, Tjong Yik Min,
served as the head of the Internal Security Department from 1986 to 1993.
In his memoir OB Markers: My Straits Times Story, former editor-in-chief
Cheong Yip Seng recounts how, since 1986, there has been a
government-appointed "monitor" at the newspaper, "someone who could watch to
see if indeed the newsroom was beyond control", and that disapproval of the
"monitor" could cost a reporter or editor their job. Cheong identifies the
first monitor as S. R. Nathan, director of the Ministry of Defence's Security
and Intelligence Division and later president of Singapore.
See also New Straits Times
Singapore Press Holdings References
Thio, HR and the Media in Singapore in HR and the Media, Robert Haas ed,
Malaysia: AIDCOM 1996 69 at 72-5. 141st Media : Refers to the Singapore
Mass Media. Singapore was ranked 141 out of 169 in the Worldwide Press Freedom
Index 2007 by Reporters Without Borders. 146th Media : Refers to the Singapore
Mass Media. Singapore was ranked 146 out of 168 in the Worldwide Press Freedom
Index 2006 by Reporters Without Borders. 154th Media : Refers to the Singapore
Mass Media. Singapore was ranked 154 out of 195 in the 2007 Freedom of the Press
World Ranking by Freedom House. Notes
Further reading Merrill, John C. and Harold A. Fisher.
The world's great dailies: profiles of fifty newspapers pp 305–7
External links Official website
Today's The Straits Times front page at the Newseum website
SPH NewsLink—Archive of Straits Times Articles
Search digitised Singapore newspapers from 1831-2013