Singapore
By Chew Hui Min 12 May 2021 03:05PM
SINGAPORE: Veteran journalist Patrick Daniel will be the new interim CEO for SPH Media Trust, the new entity that will be formed after Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) restructures its media business.
Mr Daniel was former deputy CEO of SPH and previously editor-in-chief of the company’s English/Malay/Tamil Media Group.
Announcing the appointment on Wednesday afternoon (May 12), Mr Khaw Boon Wan, who will chair the non-profit entity that is to oversee SPH Media Trust, said he expects the transition to be “uneventful”.
“My immediate priority is to ensure a smooth transition, without any disruption to the current media business,” said Mr Khaw at a townhall with SPH employees.
“Practically all 2,500 media and media-related staff of SPH will move over to SPH Media Trust.”
Reporters were invited to cover Mr Khaw's opening speech to the employees. The townhall was then closed to the media.
SPH had announced last week that it will be hiving off its core media business amid falling advertising revenue.
All the media business units in the company will be transferred to a newly formed public company limited by guarantee (CLG), which will be run as a not-for-profit entity.
SPH will provide the initial resources and funding to capitalise SPH Media with a cash injection of S$80 million, S$30 million of SPH shares and SPH REIT units, and SPH's stakes in four of its digital media investments.
Communications and Information Minister S Iswaran said in Parliament on Monday that Mr Khaw, a former Cabinet minister, will be chairman of the CLG.
In his speech to SPH employees on Wednesday, Mr Khaw reiterated in his speech on Wednesday that the media business is unsustainable amid the severe disruption caused by digital media.
"It will be a struggle to sustain quality journalism as a public good," he said.
Delisting SPH's media business and transferring it to a CLG will allow it to retain the "financial discipline of a commercial enterprise" while also having the option of seeking funding from the Government and other sources for digital transformation, said Mr Khaw.
"Public funding will be accounted for and will be directed at capacity building," said Mr Khaw. "Such funding is already available to other companies, including Mediacorp."
The nine management shareholders of SPH have been sounded out to form SPH Media Trust, said Mr Khaw: "They have agreed to be the founding members of the CLG, to continue their mission of supporting quality journalism."
The management shareholders of SPH are OCBC, Great Eastern, UOB, DBS, Singtel, NTUC Income, Temasek via Fullerton, the National University of Singapore and Nanyang Technological University.
The planned cut-over date is Sep 1, "at the earliest", said Mr Khaw.
"I am grateful to Patrick for agreeing to help us out. Like me, he is enjoying his retirement. But he has a strong personal interest to see SPH Media succeed," said Mr Khaw, adding that he will begin a search for a CEO who "can take SPH Media into the future as a multilingual digital media organisation".
Mr Daniel retired on Sep 1, 2017, after three decades in the media industry. He held various positions at the company, including editor of the Business Times and editor-in-chief of the English/Malay/Tamil Media Group, before retiring as deputy chief executive of SPH.
SPH said in 2017 that Mr Daniel was to continue as a part-time consultant and help Mr Ng in managing some SPH subsidiaries and projects.
Before joining the media, he was in the Singapore Government’s Administrative Service, where his last position was a director in the Ministry of Trade and Industry.
Mr Khaw said he has started to meet SPH employees in small groups to listen to their concerns and aspirations, and will continue to do so over the next few weeks.
The transfer of SPH's media assets to the CLG is subject to SPH shareholders' approval at an extraordinary general meeting to be convened at a later date.
Source: CNA/hm(gs)
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Media veteran Patrick Daniel to be interim CEO for SPH Media Trust
Mr Daniel was appointed Editor-in-Chief of the English & Malay Newspapers Division of Singapore Press Holdings in January 2007, which was renamed English/Malay/Tamil Media group in January 2015. (Photo: Singapore Press Holdings)By Chew Hui Min 12 May 2021 03:05PM
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SINGAPORE: Veteran journalist Patrick Daniel will be the new interim CEO for SPH Media Trust, the new entity that will be formed after Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) restructures its media business.
Mr Daniel was former deputy CEO of SPH and previously editor-in-chief of the company’s English/Malay/Tamil Media Group.
Announcing the appointment on Wednesday afternoon (May 12), Mr Khaw Boon Wan, who will chair the non-profit entity that is to oversee SPH Media Trust, said he expects the transition to be “uneventful”.
“My immediate priority is to ensure a smooth transition, without any disruption to the current media business,” said Mr Khaw at a townhall with SPH employees.
“Practically all 2,500 media and media-related staff of SPH will move over to SPH Media Trust.”
Reporters were invited to cover Mr Khaw's opening speech to the employees. The townhall was then closed to the media.
READ: SPH to restructure media business into not-for-profit entity amid falling revenue
SPH had announced last week that it will be hiving off its core media business amid falling advertising revenue.
All the media business units in the company will be transferred to a newly formed public company limited by guarantee (CLG), which will be run as a not-for-profit entity.
SPH will provide the initial resources and funding to capitalise SPH Media with a cash injection of S$80 million, S$30 million of SPH shares and SPH REIT units, and SPH's stakes in four of its digital media investments.
READ: Khaw Boon Wan to be chairman of entity managing SPH's media business
Communications and Information Minister S Iswaran said in Parliament on Monday that Mr Khaw, a former Cabinet minister, will be chairman of the CLG.
In his speech to SPH employees on Wednesday, Mr Khaw reiterated in his speech on Wednesday that the media business is unsustainable amid the severe disruption caused by digital media.
"It will be a struggle to sustain quality journalism as a public good," he said.
Delisting SPH's media business and transferring it to a CLG will allow it to retain the "financial discipline of a commercial enterprise" while also having the option of seeking funding from the Government and other sources for digital transformation, said Mr Khaw.
"Public funding will be accounted for and will be directed at capacity building," said Mr Khaw. "Such funding is already available to other companies, including Mediacorp."
The nine management shareholders of SPH have been sounded out to form SPH Media Trust, said Mr Khaw: "They have agreed to be the founding members of the CLG, to continue their mission of supporting quality journalism."
The management shareholders of SPH are OCBC, Great Eastern, UOB, DBS, Singtel, NTUC Income, Temasek via Fullerton, the National University of Singapore and Nanyang Technological University.
The planned cut-over date is Sep 1, "at the earliest", said Mr Khaw.
"I am grateful to Patrick for agreeing to help us out. Like me, he is enjoying his retirement. But he has a strong personal interest to see SPH Media succeed," said Mr Khaw, adding that he will begin a search for a CEO who "can take SPH Media into the future as a multilingual digital media organisation".
Mr Daniel retired on Sep 1, 2017, after three decades in the media industry. He held various positions at the company, including editor of the Business Times and editor-in-chief of the English/Malay/Tamil Media Group, before retiring as deputy chief executive of SPH.
SPH said in 2017 that Mr Daniel was to continue as a part-time consultant and help Mr Ng in managing some SPH subsidiaries and projects.
Before joining the media, he was in the Singapore Government’s Administrative Service, where his last position was a director in the Ministry of Trade and Industry.
Mr Khaw said he has started to meet SPH employees in small groups to listen to their concerns and aspirations, and will continue to do so over the next few weeks.
The transfer of SPH's media assets to the CLG is subject to SPH shareholders' approval at an extraordinary general meeting to be convened at a later date.
Source: CNA/hm(gs)
Continue reading...