18 June 2006
Stomping its way to.... where?
The Straits Times, like traditional print media in many countries, is losing readership. To "stay relevant" to younger readers, it has just launched a web portal called Stomp. But since there is no synergy between the Straits Times and Stomp, it's baffling how the portal can help reverse the newspaper's fortunes. Full essay.
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19 comments:
I think you mixed up three separate issues: the loss of readership to electronic media, the lack of critical evaluation of local political issues, and the particular mode of operation of stomp itself as a commercial venture; stomp obviously is not meant to address the second, and is only marginally adressing the first - the stomp users could develop a bit of psychological comfort with ST as well as invoke the various reference links that stomp would no doubt have, but I doubt ST guys have the idea of stomp "saving" ST; their hope still lies in getting online subscribers, and we have no idea how that is going
the 2M startup cost is a small one, and the running cost, including all those celebrity blogs and chats, wouldnt be very high; it is a small operation for a small market
your real beef is about press freedom, but I dont think that's responsible for the loss of readership
about MM and SM, I think the present arrangement is negative for LHL because of the perception that he is not in full control; it is in his own interest to make some changes; arguing along this line would get a better hearing
email: singaporeshares@yahoo.com
Thank you for using the word "pidgin" to describe Singlish, because that's exactly what it is.
I think it's just plain stupid to get celebrity bloggers to blog. Because, they wouldn't be themselves and they wouldn't have the same motivations when they blog on Stomp.
Thrust me, it just wouldn't work.
I have viewed the site.I must say it is very boring.
To singaporeshares:
While it may be in LHL's own interest to change the current situation, it may not be that he will want to change the current situation.
Correct me if I am wrong but you seem to say that LHL actually does see things from different points of view than from his seniors.
Hi,
Can you share more insights as to how Christian fundamentalist thinking has influenced state policies?
From what I know, Confucianisnm is the favoured belief, though now PAP's version is a gravely distorted one.
Thanks,
Jim.
Knowing it is from SPH, I am not even bothered to surf into it.
Anyone remembers Project Eyeball? the idea of stomp seems to be a rehashed copy of it.
2 million? urgh.. and i sold them the test-ink section for 500bucks.
To Jim -
3 examples of policy implementation in Singapore that appears to be consistent with beliefs espoused by fundamentalist (US) churches, and not espoused by any other major group:
1. In the battle against HIV/AIDS, the Sg govt has clearly said (the junior minister said to me directly across a table) that condoms are not part of the campaign except in niche areas. For the general public, the stress is abstinence, not safe sex. No condoms to be displayed or promoted. This position is heavily identified with the Religious Rightwing of America. HK, Taiwan and China have no problems promoting condoms.
2. In schools, students themselves have reported how Christian extremists are promoting religion under the guise of sexuality education. In January this year, it was headline news in the press. These givers of talks were approved by the school administration. How did they approve something that was so blatantly religious unless their own sympathies were with them?
3. Separately, in January this year too, the government approved a grant of S$100,000 of taxpayer money to an extremist Christian group whose mission was "conversion therapy" to change gay people into straight, through brainwashing. This pseudo-science is the speciality of US fundamentalist churches and no one else in the entire world. Global professional associations of psychologists and psychiatrists condemn such unethical practices. Yet senior civil servants in the Sg government were prepared to give money to this "cause", until People Like Us blew the whistle.
As for Confucianism, as you said, it's a gravely distorted version here. To see how far Singapore has deviated from it, just consider how China, Taiwan, etc deal with the gay issue. HK, Taiwan and China have all produced gay-based movies without much censorship problems. The Taipeh city govt funded a gay community radio station.
State-owned TV stations in mainland China feature gay issues in their programs. See Kelvin's blog for the links to the videos fo some recent programs. Contrast this with the total ban on discussing gay issues in Sg media.
Much of our government actions and policy on matters sexual aren't drawn from Confucianist ideas, they are drawn from fundamentalist Christian ideas.
>Anyone remembers Project Eyeball
that had a hardcopy free paper so was much more expensive
I believe the cost of publishing Mypaper is much more than stomp
To YB:
All the examples quoted on Christian fundamentalism are on sexual health and education. Not quite convincing evidence of "influence of Christian fundamentalism on state policy". It's obviously a matter close to your heart, but probably not reflective of the general population.
When I first read your article, I thought you were pointing out that Christians are overly represented in our Parliament and Cabinet.
You also mentioned that foreign media companies like News Corp have deeper pockets than ST. Why would they even wish to set up an online portal in Singapore in the first place? As you had pointed out earlier, Singapore is too small a market. So what exactly is your point?
As the first Anon pointed out, you are mixing up too many issues in this article.
Cheers.
To Boon -
Christian funndamentalism is obsessed with matters sexual and that is why it manifests itself in policies sexual.
Anecdotally, Christians are over-represented in Parliament and the cabinet, but it is interesting that many do not declare their religion in their published CVs. When we monitor press reports about such and such a minister attening church... that's when we discover he is Christian.
Having said that, I must stress that I have no problem with Christians being over-represented in Parliament or the cabinet. I have no problem with Christians generally. My beef is with fundamentalism, and the way the more fundamentalist Christians in government (including civil servants)bring their religious ideas into state policy and administrative decisions.
I am always careful to make a distinction between Christianity as a whole and extremist versions of it, and a distinction between a person living a faith and imposing it on others.
Straight people often think that gays and lesbians are obsessed about the sexual aspects of policy and attitudes. But the reason is obvious, we are discriminated against on the basis of sexuality. It's like meeting people who are discriminated against on account of their skin colour, and to them we say, "Oh come on, why are you so obsessed about race?"
Hi Yawning Bread,
Nice piece. Actually, I am also criticized for writing too long commentaries as well. So, I now know that I am not alone. :)
In any case, for web 2.0, I don't think that you need to pour $2M. We did SG Entrepreneurs for zero cash and made positive profit now such that we pay our contributors.
The STOMP people needs to learn something about business models and that's what we are good at. :)
Best regards,
BL
ok. when i first read about stomp on The Straits Times, it practically drew no interest to me, i just flipped onto the next page. And as mentioned, the only attraction was the celebrity bloggers. In fact, i only visited the site upon reading this article. I personally find the layout absurd, totally of no appeal to me. AND yes, i am a SEVENTEEN year old teenager.
oh ya. reading the article got more confusing by the minute. so many issues discussed. need to think a while to link everything.
a little more random (but since the article mentioned about politics):
hmmm? i kind of find Straits Times a little "pro-PAP" maybe i'm just sensitive but just a thought. Like how our textbooks go on and on about PAP since 1965. Gets boring by the minute. But, i have to admit, they have done a rather good job till date (compared to what opposition seems capable of).
Hi Alex,
It's interesting how you assume Stomp is a venture aimed at boosting ST's (already-not-unsubstantial) bottomline. Frankly, I'll be surprised if they can even get extra subscribers for The New Paper based on the site's content, much less any other news/entertainment outlet in any medium.
I think you are viewing it from the point the commercial stand-point. However what SPH does is perhaps non-business related. I don't think it sincerely wants or need to make a return on this venture. Our doubts are that it is an attempt to 'softly control' the internet discussions. Stomp is the only way in which it can create some control and regulate it's traffic and contents.
So one can almost conclude that Stomp is a political exercise and a failed business venture from the start. It will probably be written off as an experiment, like most other failed attempts or costly experiments.
If it cannot justify it's business model in this case, it can only be said to have failed in it's business judgement, but do you believe it is a purely business decision?
Stomp is clearly the thin end of the PAP wedge, to "manage" opinion in the blogs (which the MIW already said they would do). It is not a business venture. 2M is peanuts to SPH.I suppose they will use their deep pockets to attract eyeballs with prizes, inane pop stuff, sexy bloggers, etc, then lace it with the usual pro-PAP feelgood propaganda. Anything to keep them off the likes of Gayle Goh or Yawning Bread. They can't stop you guys talking so they put up another attraction as a distraction.
The litmus test would be for you to upload a critical piece about the PAP & see what happens.
I can bet on STOMP being a useful tool and gathering point for Pro PAP videos, pictures and stories for GE 2010/2011.
PAP is starting to manage the internet.
I agree that this is a rather long post, and that there are a number of issues that have been mentioned here. The one I feel most strongly about is the kind of comments and posts that STOMP gets. The quality of the language and the contents of the posts the STOMP forums get is simply terrible.
I think this is partly because of the diverse educational standards that contribute to the forums. The problem is that if the quality remains as such, then those capable of better quality posts will not want to post there anymore and you end up with a bunch of poorly educated, shallow thinking people populating your forum. And then it slowly degenerates into the 'regulars' who only want to hear people agreeing with them.
But then again it depends on what the whole purpose of STOMP is. If it's to give it's readers / people an avenue to speak up and express themselves then it may be serving it's purpose, but any such system will be limited by the lowest IQ/EQ/whatever-Q of the population of users; which unfortunately, in the local context, is not very high.
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