Mass media in Singapore

The mass media in Singapore refers to mass communication methods through broadcasting, publishing, and the Internet available in the city-state. Singapore's media environment is a duopoly - it is dominated by two major players, Mediacorp and SPH Media Trust. Comprising the publishing, print, broadcasting, film, music, digital, and IT media sectors, the media industry collectively employed about 38,000 people and contributed 1.56% to Singapore's gross domestic product (GDP) in 2001 with an annual turnover of S$10 billion. The industry grew at an average rate of 7.7% annually from 1990 to 2000, and the government seeks to increase its GDP contribution to 3% by 2012. Censorship in Singapore and Media censorship in Singapore The Ministry of Communications and Information is the government's regulatory body that imposes and enforces regulation over locally produced media content. It also decides on the availability of published media from abroad. Political, regulatory and structural control over all media forms restricts and discourages criticism of the government. Issues deemed to be inciting racial and religious hatred are prohibited, and media advocating non-traditional family units and lifestyles are avoided. Most of the local media are directly or indirectly controlled by the government through shareholdings of these media entities by the state's investment arm Temasek Holdings, and are often perceived as pro-government. In 2021, Reporters Without Borders ranked Singapore 158 out of 180 countries in the Press Freedom Index. In 2011, 56% of 1,092 local respondents to a telephone poll agreed that "there is too much government control of newspapers and television", and 48% felt that "newspapers and television are biased when they report on Singapore politics, political parties and elections". Television in Singapore and Radio in Singapore List of radio stations in Singapore After it acquired the assets of SPH MediaWorks in 2004, the state-owned broadcaster Mediacorp currently owns and operates all six free-to-air terrestrial local television channels licensed to broadcast in Singapore, as well as 12 radio channels.