Mothership’s press accreditation has been suspended after it broke an embargo related to Finance Minister Lawrence Wong’s Budget 2022 speech on Feb. 18.
The Ministry of Communications and Information has informed Mothership about the suspension. Mothership has until March 4 to appeal.
The embargoed information pertained to the news of the GST hike being delayed until 2023 and the infographic was published before Wong announced it in his speech.
In a statement, Mothership’s Managing Editor Martino Tan apologised for the mistake — “particularly to the public servants who have been working so hard to ensure the timely and accurate communication of government information.” The errant Facebook post was identified in under two minutes and the post was deleted.
“The breaking of the embargo was a genuine mistake made by prematurely publishing an infographic on Mothership’s Facebook page,” said Tan.
“We take our role of providing timely and accurate news in the digital space seriously,” he added.
“We are therefore committed and resolved to draw the right lessons from this incident, strengthen our editorial processes, and rebuild trust with our stakeholders.”
The suspension of Mothership’s press accreditation means that its reporters will not be able to attend briefings and press conferences by government agencies.
Here is Tan’s statement in full:
“The breaking of the embargo was a genuine mistake made by prematurely publishing an infographic on Mothership's Facebook page. We identified the mistake in under two minutes and immediately deleted the post.
While further investigations ensue, the staff involved have been issued a two week suspension.
We take our role of providing timely and accurate news in the digital space seriously. We are therefore committed and resolved to draw the right lessons from this incident, strengthen our editorial processes, and rebuild trust with our stakeholders.
We are also cooperating fully with the authorities in their investigations into the matter.
We sincerely apologise for the egregious mistake, particularly to the public servants who have been working so hard to ensure the timely and accurate communication of government information.”
https://mothership.sg/2022/02/mothership-press-accreditation/
Mothership’s press accreditation suspended again for breaking embargo on increase in water prices
SINGAPORE: The press accreditation of local media outlet Mothership has been suspended for the second time in less than two years, after it broke an embargo earlier this week on the rise in water prices in Singapore. In its reply on Friday (Sep 29) to CNA's queries, the Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI) did not indicate the length of the suspension.
CNA has asked MCI for its response on this matter.
On Tuesday, Mothership broke the embargo – which had been set for Wednesday – by publishing an article on its website and via a post on its Facebook page, detailing how water prices will rise over the next two years.
MCI then suspended Mothership’s press accreditation.
This means that Mothership will not be able to attend briefings and press conferences held by government agencies while the suspension is in effect.
None of its employees were present at a press conference helmed by Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong on Thursday morning about the government’s latest support measures to help Singaporeans cope with rising prices.
Mothership has until Oct 11 to make any representations on the matter and the suspension, said MCI.
PREVIOUS SUSPENSION
Mothership’s press accreditation was first suspended for six months in February last year, after it broke an embargo on the details of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) increases during Budget 2022.
It had published an infographic on its Facebook page with information on the staggered GST increases prior to the government’s announcement.
At the time, managing editor Martino Tan said they would “use this period before the reinstatement to strengthen our internal processes and implement the necessary remedial actions”.
MOTHERSHIP'S RESPONSE TO LATEST SUSPENSION
On Friday, Mothership issued a statement "unreservedly" apologising to "Singaporeans, our stakeholders — especially PUB and MCI — and our industry colleagues" and for "causing such unnecessary trouble at a time when there are more pressing priorities to focus on". When alerted to the breach, the embargoed material was removed.
"This is our second breach of embargo in 2 years, in spite of our commitment and efforts to prevent such a situation from occurring again. While this may have been an error on the part of an individual colleague, as Managing Editor I assume personal responsibility for not adequately ensuring and enforcing the standards that we had set for ourselves," said Mr Tan.
"We are particularly devastated by this and are deeply disappointed with ourselves. Our spirits have hit rock bottom, but my colleagues and I vow to get to the core of these lapses and resolve these operating issues once and for all."
The media outlet said that its investigation found that it was a member of Mothership's editorial team who had prematurely published the article, an act it said was "a serious breach as the information impacts every person in Singapore".
This employee had "failed to observe our editorial protocols, also breaching the additional safeguards that were put in place last year".
Mothership said the person in question has been suspended from duty while it concludes its probe and responds to regulators.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/mothership-suspended-press-accreditation-break-embargo-water-prices-3808076