Airlines and hotels are enjoying a roaring business, so we need to finalise numbers early to get the special rates offered by SilkAir and Spring City.

Join us for the full 11-day trip to find out why this is such a great holiday destination.

If you can’t make the full trip, the four-day trip will give you a glimpse of Kunming and the Stone Forest.

For a taste of culture, heritage and scenic wonders, come for the 8-day trip that takes us to UN heritage town Lijiang,

When you apply, do give us your name as in your passport, and your passport number.

We need your confirmation and details by Wednesday, August 18.

As in previous years, it will be an afternoon game, followed by dinner and the prize giving, as well as a lucky draw. The dinner and lucky draw will be open to non-golfers.

It will be held on Tuesday Aug 3 at the Orchid Country Club for a 12.00 noon shotgun start. Senior Minister Prof S Jayakumar is the Guest of Honour and will play in the tournament.

Some slots are available for members and corporate flights. For $70 (member) you get an 18-hole game, lunch, dinner, attractive lucky draw prizes and well stocked goodie bags.

Non-playing members may join in the dinner and lucky draw at 6.30pm at the Clubhouse for just $20.

Please download the enclosed registration form and submit by 29 July 2010.

I’m delighted to announce details of this year’s Press Club overseas trip. We have planned a trip to take in the sights, sounds and gastronomic delights of the Yunnan region in south western China.

With the help of club member Salma Khalik and Management Committee member Dicky Goh, we have planned a two-in-one trip - one for golfers, and one a purely social programme.

Avid golfers will love the high altitude courses in Kunming, Dali and Lijiang, including a game at the highest course in the northern hemisphere - the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain course at 3,100 metres above sea level (achieve your record breaking drive with your ball flying 20 per cent further than in Singapore!)

For the social group, be enthralled by the contrasts of the ancient and modern worlds, the caves, waterfalls, stone forests/dams and the mountains. And more importantly for some, the shopping, the spas, the food and the karaoke.

To meet the needs of both social and golfing members, we have separate packages for golfers and the social group. We have also split the full 10-day period into 2 parts (21-24 Oct and 24-31 Oct) to cater to those who cannot take the full trip. In other words, you can choose Tour A or Tour B, or both Tour A+B.

Please study the attached package programmes which give the details. As the group size has to be limited, you are advised to apply early to reserve your seats, together with your cheques for 50% of the package that you prefer.

You remember Janis Joplin, Eric Burdon, The Rolling Stones, The Eagles,
Santana, Deep Purple, Pink Floyd, Steppenwolf? What about Easy Rider, Bell-Bottom-Jeans, Paisley-
pattern and ‘give-piece-a-chance’?

Rock down to Mercedes Benz Centre and make this era come alive again at the “70s/80s Rock
Music Revival” with sought-after local and regional musicians. Zul Tanja and John Molina, both
popular veteran Singapore musicians, head a group of ‘rockers’ for an exclusive one-night-only live
performance at the Mercedes-Benz Centre.

Come dressed in your 70s/80s rock garb…. if you feel like it.

Something to be enjoyed by baby boomers and the kids of the post boomer generation as well. A
special gift for the best dressed Press Club member.

Light refreshments and snacks will be served.

Date: Friday, 9th July 2010
Time: 7.30pm onwards
Location: Mercedes-Benz Center
301 Alexandra Road
Brand Gallery (ground level)

This is another in the very popular Soiree series presented by Mercedes Benz. Again, a limited number of
invitations is being made exclusively to Singapore Press Club members by the kind courtesy of Mercedes
Benz and Press Club member Helfried Scharf.

You must register to get the invitation, which is on a first come first served basis, and you can do so by
responding directly to:
Ms Karin Danninger
Tel.: 6849 8454

Please give your Press Club membership number and note that the invitation is non-transferable.

In my 25 years in the newspaper business, this is without doubt the most challenging period. The days of easy growth are long gone. We are now confronting an almost existential threat. Will newspapers as we know them be around 10 years from now? All I can say is: I hope so. But my honest answer is, I do not know. There’s just no visibility, if you allow me that cliche.

Two things are happening that are shaking the media business to our core. And they also go to the heart of the theme of your conference. The first, of course, is technological changes. These tech changes have been rapid and unpredictable, often ephemeral and at times unknowable.

The second is the changes in people’s habits, in particular their media consumption habits in the face of major lifestyle changes. We now have a multi-tasking younger generation, with short attention spans, and enjoying an embarrassment of entertainment choices. Most are digital natives and big consumers of social media. They are also more networked than any generation before them.

In fact, a A recent article in the McKinsey Quarterly, titled “A glimmer of hope for newspapers” found that news consumption in the United Kingdom - as measured by time spent - rose by 20% between 2006 and 2009, and the increase was driven almost entirely by people under the age of 35. For me, this is more than a glimmer of hope.

Some years back, I discussed these trends with an MIT media professor. He was a social scientist and his clear view was that there’s not much point tracking technology changes because you can never tell which will endure. It was by far more useful, he felt, to track people’s changing habits – how they spend their time and how they live their daily lives. But in reality, the two are intertwined of course. It’s the powerful combination of technology changes and people’s changing habits that makes this such a fraught period for the media business.

For publishers and newspaper managements, the bottomline of all this is the impact on revenues and on our business models. I get truly depressed reading about the state US newspapers are in. Classified advertising has all but disappeared, while display ads have declined at double-digit rates. At the same time, circulation sales have plummeted as more and more readers get their news online or on mobile devices. The changes have been too swift, and newspaper managements have been too slow on the draw and have been outgunned. This is not a criticism of managements, just a description. Part of the problem with incumbents is that they have too much at stake and often their preferred mode is to wait and see.

The financials are actually quite straight-forward. If you’re in a business that’s operating on a 15 % margin, and if revenues suddenly shrink by 35% and there’s nothing you can do to boost it, you have to cut costs by 20% to stay above water. Many media companies have done this, but many have not been able to and have gone under. The newspaper business is both capital- and labour-intensive, and if you don’t make a decent rate of return, it’s just not worth the effort, especially if you’re a listed company.

So, it’s no surprise that many newspapers have folded and many more will. Fortunately, papers in Asia have not suffered the same fate – as yet. But the same trends will inevitably hit us too. The challenge for us is - how to be among the survivors. We in SPH are determined to not just be among the survivors, but to continue to thrive and maintain our margins and returns. SPH has been fortunate to be able to maintain operating margins in excess of 30% for our newspaper operations. When I last checked, we had the highest operating margin among newspaper companies in the world, along with the Fairfax group and the West Australian Neswpapers. Part of the reason, of course, is that we’re dominant in Singapore. But an equally important reason is that we’re among the most efficient at newspaper production and distribution. Our overall daily returns of unsold newspapers, for example, are at the 5 per cent level when the international industry norm until recently was some 20 per cent. We also run our presses intensively but keep tight rein on newsprint wastage on the production floor.

Our challenge is how to stay in this position. When you’ve scaled the heights, things look precarious as it’s so easy to slide down a steep slope if you make a mis-step. Doing nothing also doesn’t guarantee that you can keep your perch.

I tell my colleagues this is not a time for faint hearts. For while the threats loom large, there are also opportunities for the stout-hearted. In the inevitable shake-out that’s coming, you can leapfrog from No.30 into the Top 10. Or even from No.10 into the Top 3. In the past, this was not imaginable. But now, it’s an exciting prospect.

Another upside is that the recent changes have opened all manner of entrepreneurial opportunities. These opportunities have been seized by the large technology giants like Google and Apple, on the one hand, and the small start-up ventures on the other. Regrettably, most mainstream media companies have sat on their hands. In SPH, we’ve been fortunate that our board agreed to commit 150 million Singapore dollars to invest in the online and mobile space with the aim of being a leading new-media player. We’ve made progress but the results will only show in the medium term.

From what I’ve said thus far, the issues confronting the mainstream media might seem simple. In truth, they are complex - at least far more complex than what we’re used to. But this calls for managements to make the right decisions on the challenges we have to confront. I’d like to spend some time spelling out some of these challenges

1. Engaging the young

The first is how to engage the young. This is of course a sub-set of the broader challenge of maintaining our readership. But the young - those below 30, the Generation Y born after 1980 – are a special challenge. I’m happy to see there’s a session later today on Media and Youth. It’s clear from our data that the young have migrated away from print products and are true digital natives. But in SPH we are not giving up on the Gen Y and even Gen Z. We have a good schools programme and we connect well with students in primary and secondary schools. Keeping this up is already a big task, but an even bigger one is keeping them after they leave school and go on to institutions of higher learning. By then, they rely almost exclusively on online and social media for their news. What we need is a good strategy to engage them on the platforms of their choice. I’m sure that if we put our minds to it, we will find a way.

I should add that fortunately for us, at the other end of the spectrum, older readers - those above 45 - have been loyal subscribers. Thankfully, they’re living longer. So thanks to this group alone, newspapers may be around for longer than many of us think.

2. Maintaining quality

The second challenge is: How do you maintain quality journalism when budgets and resources are being cut left, right and centre. For instance, aside from the wire agencies, very few newspapers now have overseas bureaus manned by their own staff. Even the leading global names have long cut back their overseas staff. I’m happy that SPH is one of the few media groups that still maintains our network of overseas bureaus which we consider our crown jewels.

I’m not saying there should not be budget cuts. If or when revenues fall, it’s inevitable that costs must come down too. But the challenge is how to maintain quality notwithstanding budget cuts. Editors and managements must think of new ways of doing things, and forge new partnerships, that bring costs down without too much loss of quality. I’m firmly of the view that, going forward, quality is what will endure and distinguish us amid the cacophony out there.

3. Keeping our advertisers

Next is the advertising challenge. The changes I’ve been speaking about have thrown up many vexing questions for newspaper managements: Will the overall advertising pie grow? Where will ad dollars go? Can we help advertisers reach their target audiences and thereby influence where they put their money? Can we stem the flow of ad dollars from print and TV to online? The list of questions is long. But the answers will determine whether newspapers and mainstream media survive, thrive or die.

What we do know now is that the higher the Internet penetration in a country, the higher the share of online advertising. But even in the US, the online share is under 15 per cent. The highest are the Scandinavian countries where it’s about 20-25 per cent. In Singapore, total online advertising is paltry - less than 5 per cent - while print products take the lion’s share – 50+ per cent. In fact, we are outliers on both counts. How these shares change over time will determine which products thrive and whether online will make a significant dent on print revenues.

4. Finding business models for new platforms

The fourth challenge is how to find the right business models for new platforms. After almost two decades, there’s still no business model for our online news offerings. I belong to the camp that believes that newspapers made a fatal mistake giving away their content free. SPH went online in 1995. In 2003, we put The Straits Times and Business Times behind paywalls. We took alot of flak as we were among the first, along with the Wall Street Journal and some others. Most newspapers yielded to the free culture on the Net. But we took the view that it didn’t make sense to charge for the print edition, which pays the wages of our journalists, but give away the online version free. Only now is there a growing consensus on putting content behind paywalls. How newspapers design their paywalls, and the response of users, will be key issues that we all need to track.

5. Responding to the iPad challenge
.
A related issue is the iPad challenge. I’m also in the camp that believes that Apple’s iPad will be a game changer. There are many reasons why. We all know about the big, clear screen, the fast processor, and the intuitive touch experience. Just like the iPhone, the iPad is likely to become ubiquitous. But the two key features, in my view, are Apple’s tremendous developer support and its iTunes micro-payment gateway. Apple’s iPhone app store now has 200,000 apps and counting. There have been 3 billion app downloads, accounting for 97.5 per cent of all mobile app sales. The mobile apps revenues have so far topped US$4 billion. These are amazing stats that point to a runaway winner. What holds true for the iPhone will soon hold true on the iPad., I believe.

The 70-30 revenue split with Apple (with Apple taking 30 per cent) is an equitable formula. For Apple, it’s a fair reward for the tremendous eco-system it has built. I remember in the early days, our telephone companies wanted 70% for being just passive carriers. We said, thanks but no thanks. I hope newspapers groups won’t become greedy and want all 100%.

But there are issues that need to be addressed - like ownership of subscriber data. There is also a danger of Apple becoming a predatory giant and skewing the rules in its favour. This is why I believe technology companies need to be regulated. It doesn’t make sense that media and telecoms companies are regulated, while the technology giants aren’t.

6. Building brand value

The sixth and last challenge is building brands and creating brand value. I’m convinced this is important for long-term survival. Media companies need to build trust, credibility, objectivity and a reputation for professionalism. Already, these values are being recognised. The McKinsey study I cited earlier found that consumers trust newspapers more than any other medium. And surprisingly too, 66 per cent described newspaper advertising as “informative and confidence inspiring” compared to 44 per cent for TV and 12 per cent for the Web.

For me, this April 2010 study was much more than just a glimmer of hope. As the author, Philip Nattermann, a McKinsey principal in London, says: “This suggests that newspapers have further scope to go beyond news, to drive reader interest and advertising revenues at the same time.” So don’t write us off just yet.

As an aside, I would say that trust will be important for another reason. So many societies are becoming increasingly partisan and polarised. Never have I seen the United States so partisan as it is today. Whether it’s healthcare or defence policy, it’s as if the twain can never meet. The same is true nearer home - red shirts versus yellow shirts; even pro-PAP and anti-PAP. The worldviews have grown so partisan, so far apart. I believe newspapers need not themselves become partisan. This does not mean we sit on the fence all the time and shy away from taking positions. We must have the courage to support whichever position deserves supporting and argue against wrong-headed positions. But we have to do so objectively and maintain the trust that most readers have in our professionalism.

Let me end by quoting again from my favourite McKinsey study: “To survive in the digital age, newspapers will need to develop deeper skills … and they must walk the fine line to retain editorial independence and quality… But for those that get it right, the rewards could be significant.”

I agree whole-heartedly with this conclusion. If we get it right, we will continue to thrive.

Thank you.

*Patrick Daniel is also President of the Singapore Press Club

A rare opportunity for 20 Press Club members to tour the Singapore Islamic Hub organised by the Young Media Professionals Chapter and MUIS. Details are attached. Sign up asap as places are limited!

presents

Is social media the new mainstream?

Wednesday 7 July 2010, 12noon to 2pm
Venue: T2.2, Tower Block, News Centre
Singapore Press Holdings
1000 Toa Payoh North, Singapore 318994