Letter: SPH Should Remove Their Paywall Since They Are Getting S$900M Of Taxpayers’ Money

[inlinesix]

Since Day 1, the model proposed to Govt has always been paywall 1st.

Not enough?
Govt top up.

Govt will need to get more money once govt fully fund it.

[Lala81]

I'm anti subscription for almost everything. Netflix I guess is still worth it.

I paid one year for Dropbox premium but went back to free after that. 

I guess Google drive/photos and Icloud subscription is worth it for Android or Apple users. 

[Actan72]

ST is control media... dun waste my time reading straits time already

[kobayashiGT]

6 hours ago, ToyotaShuttle said:

omg, just googled it. sold to toyota?

do you get free prius?

My heart is 4ever VTEC!!!! 

 

VTEC for life!!!! 

[ToyotaShuttle]

13 minutes ago, kobayashiGT said:

My heart is 4ever VTEC!!!! 

 

VTEC for life!!!! 

ok, forwarded to your boss. he said cancel the pruis, give you $100 angbao for bonus instead.

[ToyotaShuttle]

3 hours ago, Lala81 said:

I'm anti subscription for almost everything. Netflix I guess is still worth it.

I paid one year for Dropbox premium but went back to free after that. 

I guess Google drive/photos and Icloud subscription is worth it for Android or Apple users. 

i'm subscribed to turkish netflix. occassionally i subscribe to iqiyi for 1 month here and there, watch the shows then cancel it next month.

[Benarsenal]

Now this place no longer owned by SPH, can just anyhow whack ah? LOL

By the way, if you really wanna read, download the NLB app. Got free digital print edition everyday, up to two weeks prior.

[Beanoyip]

FARK THE SHITIMES... i rather not read if there's a paywall.. 

[Estrangable]

the sammo hung of SPH keep posting non stop in Linkedln on all the great things she is doing.... even her first day at work, she also live telecast. 

[Ender]

20 hours ago, Lala81 said:

I'm anti subscription for almost everything. Netflix I guess is still worth it.

I paid one year for Dropbox premium but went back to free after that. 

I guess Google drive/photos and Icloud subscription is worth it for Android or Apple users. 

I alos don't pay for subscriotion for entertainment, then I discovered I actually can live overseas virtually with VPN and my youtrip card seems to be accepted in local overseas.

Google photo unlimited storage there's a hack, just get a refurbished pixel or Pixel XL (1st generation only). Whatever photo uploaded to Google photo from these pixels, their storage will not be counted. No drop in your storage quota. Best thing is even if you upload RAW picture format, and your google setting is set to highest quality, it is unlimited lossless storage.

[Victor68]

18 hours ago, Benarsenal said:

Now this place no longer owned by SPH, can just anyhow whack ah? LOL

By the way, if you really wanna read, download the NLB app. Got free digital print edition everyday, up to two weeks prior.

Don't say so loud, wait they stop it. 😆 Anyway nothing to read also. 

[Starry]

22 hours ago, Lala81 said:

I'm anti subscription for almost everything. Netflix I guess is still worth it.

I paid one year for Dropbox premium but went back to free after that. 

I guess Google drive/photos and Icloud subscription is worth it for Android or Apple users. 

I also.  Not even Netflix, Dropbox or icloud.

But I do subscribe to online education platforms. Learning and collecting certs are addictive 😆

 

[kobayashiGT]

5 hours ago, Ender said:

I alos don't pay for subscriotion for entertainment, then I discovered I actually can live overseas virtually with VPN and my youtrip card seems to be accepted in local overseas.

Google photo unlimited storage there's a hack, just get a refurbished pixel or Pixel XL (1st generation only). Whatever photo uploaded to Google photo from these pixels, their storage will not be counted. No drop in your storage quota. Best thing is even if you upload RAW picture format, and your google setting is set to highest quality, it is unlimited lossless storage.

need to bookmark this. hahaha 

[kobayashiGT]

23 hours ago, ToyotaShuttle said:

ok, forwarded to your boss. he said cancel the pruis, give you $100 angbao for bonus instead.

Free car best car. 

I like how Prius drive. so smooth and quiet! Plus the range. . .  Aiyo, i can travel more and refuel less. What is not to love. 

VTEC noisy lah. hahahah. 

[inlinesix]

3 minutes ago, kobayashiGT said:

Free car best car. 

I like how Prius drive. so smooth and quiet! Plus the range. . .  Aiyo, i can travel more and refuel less. What is not to love. 

VTEC noisy lah. hahahah. 

I-vtec is the best la

😂

[Wind30]

On 11/24/2022 at 9:05 AM, kobayashiGT said:

Source: https://mustsharenews.com/sph-should-remove-paywall/

SPH Is Still Gatekeeping Media Content With Paywall Even Though It’s An “Essential Public Good”

Since 2015, The Straits Times (ST) has had a paywall for many of its articles, and in 2018 introduced ST Premium in light of falling profits.

On 15 Oct 2018, Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) reported a 19.7 per cent fall in net profit for the year.

However, that was not enough to stop SPH from becoming a non-profit organisation (NGO), named SPH Media Trust (SMT) in 2021.

Even though the Government promised S$900 million to SMT over the next five years, ST Premium remains.

Currently, a subscription costs S$9.90 a month, or S$24.90/month to read it on a tablet.

If the Government is already funding SPH with taxpayers’ money, why do citizens still have to pay for articles under their paywall?

When announcing SMT’s funding in February 2022, Minister for Communications and Information Josephine Teo said in Parliament that “preserving local news media remains critical”.

She also referred to the local news media as an “essential public good in our multiracial, multi-religious society”.

If the Government believes that SMT is an “essential public good”, shouldn’t the content on ST and SPH’s other publications be free?

What is a public good if it’s not available to all?

Since SMT is now legally an NGO, there’s no longer a need to seek profit. It also received funding to restructure its operations last year.

Considering the substantial financial support SMT is receiving, there’s no reason why they should charge readers for access to their content.

If anything, their publications should be free, especially for Singaporeans.

Ms Teo mentioned in Parliament that, “SPH had invested almost S$50 million annually in technology investments and digital talent”.

More money than that is flowing into SMT now. How much does ST Premium make for SMT?

And is it still necessary to gatekeep this “essential public good” from readers?

Marcus

….. that guy does not know we have NLB? I think u can read straits times free with the library app. Not 100% sure because I don’t read ST but u can read stuff like the economist foc even. 
 

I am pretty sure every citizen can join NLB foc so it is already free….. sigh….

[Wind30]

On 11/24/2022 at 2:48 PM, Lala81 said:

I'm anti subscription for almost everything. Netflix I guess is still worth it.

I paid one year for Dropbox premium but went back to free after that. 

I guess Google drive/photos and Icloud subscription is worth it for Android or Apple users. 

I got, Netflix, Disney plus, ms 365 family, photoshop, NordVPN, YouTube premium…. 

If u want cloud storage , I think ms 365 family for $148 a year is great value. 5tb of OneDrive storage plus office apps. It works across pc and macOS.

[Starry]

34 minutes ago, Wind30 said:

….. that guy does not know we have NLB? I think u can read straits times free with the library app. Not 100% sure because I don’t read ST but u can read stuff like the economist foc even. 
 

I am pretty sure every citizen can join NLB foc so it is already free….. sigh….

NLB is the next best thing since sliced bread.  I use its Libby app to read so many free books and foreign magazines.  All the expensive harvard business review books are available for loan through Libby as e-books. 

Did all the loaning and returning through my ipad without leaving home. Now my Kindle app is not getting anymore business. 😄