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Hello all! I am considering a job with a newspaper/magazine publisher in Singapore. However, I am a bit perplexed. I am perplexed because newspapers and magazines in U.S. (where I am from) are becoming less used over time. That is, newspaper/magazine circulation in the U.S. is declining at a very rapid rate! And the advertisers are also paying less to newspapers to advertise. So newspaper companies in the U.S. are going BANKRUPT!!
Why are Singapore newspapers doing so well? Why do people in Singapore not get their news online, on a phone, or on tablet? Newspapers still seem popular in Singapore -- but they are doing terribly in US/Europe. And this is despite Singapore being more high-tech (faster and more pervasive Internet)!
Is the culture there different? I am uncertain on taking this job because I am uncertain how long newspapers will be popular in Singapore.
What you've said sounds familiar here in Western Canada, in particular, Canwest came to mind.
Then I found out recently that The Straits Times Group, for example, is very strong in the Real Estate sector,
The Straits Times Group is trying to diversify into real estate from its newspapers.. but newspapers/magazines are still 75% of their profits today! They are not diversifying fast enough. But maybe they don't need to diversify that fast because the business in Asia/Singapore is a good business. Singapore regulates the press so maybe because there are no other alternatives for news, everyone subscribes to the newspaper and will do so even many years in the future?
The Straits Times Group is trying to diversify into real estate from its newspapers.. but newspapers/magazines are still 75% of their profits today! They are not diversifying fast enough. But maybe they don't need to diversify that fast because the business in Asia/Singapore is a good business. Singapore regulates the press so maybe because there are no other alternatives for news, everyone subscribes to the newspaper and will do so even many years in the future?
I find your topic interesting, but unfortunately I have little insight to offer. I hope others will contribute.
From the wikipedia, "SPH owns and manages Paragon, a retail and office complex in the heart of Orchard Road, Singapore's main shopping belt. SPH has also developed Sky@eleven, a 43-storey upmarket residential condominium on its former Times Industrial Building site at Thomson Road. Its latest retail development, The Clementi Mall, started business operations in 2011."
Hello all! I am considering a job with a newspaper/magazine publisher in Singapore. However, I am a bit perplexed. I am perplexed because newspapers and magazines in U.S. (where I am from) are becoming less used over time. That is, newspaper/magazine circulation in the U.S. is declining at a very rapid rate! And the advertisers are also paying less to newspapers to advertise. So newspaper companies in the U.S. are going BANKRUPT!!
Why are Singapore newspapers doing so well? Why do people in Singapore not get their news online, on a phone, or on tablet? Newspapers still seem popular in Singapore -- but they are doing terribly in US/Europe. And this is despite Singapore being more high-tech (faster and more pervasive Internet)!
Is the culture there different? I am uncertain on taking this job because I am uncertain how long newspapers will be popular in Singapore.
Any advice or clarity would be appreciated!
Thank you
I'm not 100% sure...but most US newspapers really suck. I find them difficult to read, as there is just so little interesting content in them. Mostly they seem to be about murders, killings, more murder, some gossip celebrity, a bit of sensationalistic politics/polls that address no real issues, and a lot of sports.
Generally, over here in Asia, there seem to be more international issues, globalization issues, etc. The content just seems to be a million times better.
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I have no idea how well newspapers are doing here, but I never buy them. I don't buy magazines anymore, either. Are newspapers really any more popular in Singapore than anywhere else? I mean it's one of the most digitally connected states in the world.
My sense is newspapers ARE more popular in Singapore Look at Singapore Press's financials. Newspaper revenue has been increasing every year. I'm perplexed by it. It's as if people in Singapore still use the newspaper to find an apartment, buy a car, find a job.
I can't speak for Singapore though my impression is that people outside the U.S. read more newspapers and magazines, perhaps because they read more in general. So, even if newspaper readership is declining, maybe there's still a larger market for newspapers.
However, newspapers and the digital age aren't necessarily mutually exclusive. Despite their many problems, newspapers in general are still the largest news gathering operations in any particular metro region. They employ more people than radio, television, blogs and such. And many of the sites that people go to for news are merely aggregators and the basis for their news is newspapers or news services like Reuters and Associated Press which grew out of the newspaper industry. So, many people online are reading newspapers, or at least the fruit of some newspaper writer's labor, without really realizing it.
Also, all newspapers have web sites, some of which are behind pay walls, some not, or some that are exclusively for the Net like The Daily, Seattle Post Intelligencer, and soon, New Orleans' Times-Picayune which will only have a hard copy edition three days a week starting at the end of this month. Yes, many more newspapers will die before this all shakes out and the transition to more purely digital formats won't be easy but there will be some who will make it work.
As for print editions, I think there will be a small number of classicists who prefer that format -- just as there are people who prefer classical music, jazz, vinyl records, tube technology, and hard-cover books. But it will be a niche audience and there will be some people able to make money from that niche audience, just not a lot of them.
A lot more people use public transportation in Singapore, newspapers and magazines are something to read since you usually cant get wifi underground. Thats why newspapers do better in large areas of the US with public transportation like NYC and DC.
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