SINGAPORE: Daily circulation numbers of SPH Media titles were found to have been inflated by between 85,000 and 95,000, or about 10 to 12 per cent of the reported daily average circulation, The Straits Times reported on Monday (Jan 9).
There were instances where copies were printed, counted for circulation and then destroyed, as well as double-counting of subscriptions.
The practices came to light during a review on internal processes in March 2022.
In response to CNA's queries, an SPH Media spokesperson said: "Some inconsistencies in the reporting of the data were discovered, and we have immediately taken steps to strengthen processes.
"The staff involved had been taken to task, or had left the organisation."
SPH Media did not say how long the practice had been going on for. The staff involved were not named.
Apart from printing copies to be counted for circulation before being destroyed, The Straits Times also reported other examples of the inconsistencies discovered.
Lapsed contracts continued to be counted into circulation data, it reported, citing an SPH Media spokesperson.
“A project account was injected with additional funding over a period of time to purchase fictitious circulation,” the spokesman added.
“Certain circulation numbers were arbitrarily derived.”
The titles published by SPH Media include The Straits Times, The Business Times, Lianhe Zaobao, Shin Min Daily News, Berita Harian and Tamil Murasu.
The Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI) said in a statement on Monday that it has asked SPH Media to share its full findings and has recently received SPH Media's internal report on the matter.
“MCI will undertake our own review to determine if these inconsistencies in circulation data affect the decision to fund, and the amount the Government committed to fund SPH Media," said the spokesperson.
“MCI expects SPH Media to fully cooperate with our review.”
CNA has asked SPH Media a number of additional questions, including how long the circulation data was being inflated, whether a police report has been made, and how it plans to compensate companies that bought advertising space at rates based on the false data.
The review was initiated shortly after SPH Media was spun off from Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) in December 2021 to become a not-for-profit entity - a company limited by guarantee (CLG).
The period of review was from September 2020 to March 2022, which included a full financial year from September 2020 to August 2021, and two quarters - from September 2021 to November 2021, when the media business was still part of the listed company, as well as from December 2021 to March 2022, when SPH Media had become a CLG.
SPH had first expressed intent in May 2021 to transfer its media business into a not-for-profit entity amid the ongoing challenge of falling advertising revenue.
The move was approved in September 2021 by shareholders of SPH who have voted in favour of the proposed restructuring of the company.
Following the move, MCI said it will provide up to S$900 million in funding support for SMT over the next five years, and that the company will have to provide progress updates to MCI on a half-yearly basis.
Government may terminate SPH Media Trust's funding if serious wrongdoings found
SINGAPORE: While the government has built in safeguards that allow it to conduct “ad-hoc audits” on SPH Media Trust (SMT), it has the right to terminate funding if serious wrongdoings are found, said Minister for Communications and Information Josephine Teo on Thursday (Jul 6).
Mrs Teo was responding in parliament to questions from Members of Parliament (MPs) on updates to SMT’s review of overstated circulation numbers, which covers the period of September 2020 to March 2022.
The review, which was reported in early January, found that daily circulation numbers of SPH Media titles had been inflated by about 10 to 12 per cent of the reported daily average circulation.
The media company - which publishes news titles such as The Straits Times, the Business Times and Lianhe Zaobao - then tasked its audit and risk committee, with the help of legal advisers, to further investigate the inflated daily circulation numbers.
In February last year, the government had announced that it would provide up to S$900 million in funding support for SMT over the next five years.
This came after SMT was hived off from Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) in 2021 to become a not-for-profit entity, amid the steep decline of print media and the migration to the digital space.
The direction that SMT is charting out is "promising", but significant investments are needed and it will likely be loss-making in the transition period, Mrs Teo said in February last year.
The first tranche of funding was disbursed in March this year, Mrs Teo told the House on Thursday. The events in question preceded the period of funding, and no public funds had been involved, she said.
Mrs Teo on Thursday also said that the Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI) is committed to working with SMT to overcome the challenges of disruption caused by readership moving online and succeed in its transformation plans.
The funding is mainly directed at three key areas: Technology upgrade, talent development, and sustaining the vernacular media.
MEASURING ACCOUNTABILITY
The funding agreement already contains measures to ensure accountability, said Mrs Teo in response to questions filed by Ms Tin Pei Ling (PAP-MacPherson) and Mr Zhulkarnain Abdul Rahim (PAP-Chua Chu Kang) on whether the government would impose additional safeguards.
“For example, SMT is required to submit specific information on KPIs (key performance indicators), including methodologies and sources. These must be agreed upon and SMT is not allowed to change them without MCI’s consent,” she said.
SMT’s KPI performance and financial statements must also be audited by independent external auditors, she added.
While the valuation of and improvements to internal processes are “clearly the responsibility” of SMT’s executive team, she said, the government will intervene in cases of misconduct or mismanagement of public funding.
"If serious wrongdoings are found, we have the right to terminate funding," Mrs Teo added.
Responding to Ms Hany Soh's (PAP-Marsiling-Yew Tee) supplementary question on whether MCI is tracking how the incident has affected public confidence in SMT, Mrs Teo further outlined how accountability would be measured.
“This accountability, in relation to funding, will include the extent to which SMT has been successful in its transformation, especially towards digital media. It will also be held accountable for maintaining trust,” she said.
The government will rely on independent reports, such as those carried out by Reuters, but will also have its own studies to “confirm what these independent resources have established as findings”.
Accountability to the public also includes improving governance within SMT, mainly by doing three things, added Mrs Teo.
“It is to make sure that bad things don't happen again. It is to ensure that your systems for controls and contracting pricing … have to be cleaned up, made better.
“And the other aspect of governance that needs to be improved is also the culture. How people view these kinds of things and their willingness to tolerate them, or to speak against them.”
SMT is “well aware that it is one thing to tell people what the findings are”, said Mrs Teo. “It is quite another to commit to making improvements.”
She also reminded the House that the circulation data issue had originally emerged because SMT was conducting its own review and due diligence following the transfer of the media business from SPH Limited in December 2021.
“So the seriousness of this incident and its potential impact on the levels of trust that the public has in SMT and its titles is not lost on its board, as well as the management,” she said.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/government-may-terminate-sph-media-trusts-funding-if-serious-wrongdoings-found-3610521