Thursday, August 08, 2013

Suspicious Singapore watches new internet news launch...

On August 9, five Singaporeans will launch The Independent, which they describe as a new commercial Internet news operation intended to provide professional independent news, comment and analysis for the island republic.

Even before the publication goes live officially, however, it has attracted the attention of a suspicious government, whose Media Development Authority on July 29 posted a statement on the authority's website saying it had "notified the promoters of The Independent…to register under the Broadcasting (Class License) Notification… As part of the registration, they will be required to undertake not to receive foreign funding for its provision, management and/or operation. The promoters of The Independent have agreed to register and to undertake not to accept foreign funding."

The government, the statement said, "has received specific information which gives it cause for concern over foreign interest to fund The Independent. The registration and undertaking will not in any way affect what The Independent can publish on its website. However, it will prevent The Independent from being controlled by, or coming under the influence of, foreign entities or funding, and ensure that Singapore politics remain a matter for Singaporeans alone.

 "We have been called up," said Kumaran Pillai, the fledgling publication's managing editor. "But we are locally funded by local shareholders, there are five of us, we are bootstrapping it." The website hopes to earn income through advertising and subscriptions and will pay its contributors, Pillai said, unlike volunteer publications such as The Online Citizen and TR Emeritus. Full story...

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