In the digital age do newspapers still have a role in your society?

As technology becomes more and more advanced, more and more things have become computerized and placed into tablets, cell phones and laptops. This led to many people actually worrying that newspaper has lost large of its popularity in the society we lived in today. So do newspapers still have a part to play in Singapore? In my point of view, newspapers do not have any significant position here in the “red dot” as we are technologically advanced and thus we do not need newspaper to be in our life anymore. Moreover, the core business model is collapsing irreversibly. Lastly, the words in the newspaper are too lengthy and thus many people do not have time to read. Hence, newspapers do not have a role to play in this digital age.

First and foremost, looking at this issue from a socialist point of view, newspapers are replaceable items and mankind can go without them. Since there is the rise in online newspapers like iToday, Flipboard and Channel News Asia, many people would rather download these apps from Android’s Google market or Apple’s App store or Windows’ Marketplaces. With these apps, they will be able to read the updated news immediately without the need to wait for the next day to read about it. Though these “red dot” is small on the world map, but we have the latest technology available in the country, thus making every local very reliant on these gadgets. There is also statistics that states that only a mere 11% of the people living in this capitalistic country who can live without these gadgets. Hence, it is nearly true to say that the fate of newspaper and its place in this city will only become lesser and lesser as the years go by. It may just need just 10 years for the newspaper to become a part of the forgettable history. Hence newspaper is not a necessity anymore in our lives and this has resulted in the fall in its importance in the countryman’s needs. Therefore, as we look at those evidence presented to us, we can say that newspapers have little role to play in this digital age.

Next, looking at this issue from an economist’s point of view, newspaper has no part to play in this age as the core business model is collapsing irreversibly The internet is destroying the traditional business model for general newspapers, and the organizational forms designed for the era of industrial production need to be replaced with structures optimized for digital production and distribution. This has caused global economic crisis to distort the analysis and it has jeopardised the futures of various high profile newspaper groups that opted to finance growth via leveraged debt; however, this is true of many industries, and should not be interpreted as a sign that the underlying business model for newspapers is broken. In addition, the global financial crisis has had hastened the underlying structural shift by encouraging advertisers and consumers to their expenditure on newspapers—and the discovery that they can live without this, means that much of this expenditure will not return of the newspaper industry. Statistics has shown that newspaper advertising revenues in the first quarter of 2009 fell 30% from their level in the first quarter of 2008. Thus it is believed that newspaper does not have a part to play in our world today.

  

Lastly, when we look from the workaholic’s point of view, the length of each article is way too lengthy and many people do not have the time to read the entire article due to the limited amount of time they have to relax. Many people work more than 9 hours per day and that most people still have to work from home, bringing their work home to complete so that they can meet the deadlines set down by their bosses. Hence many people only read the headlines of the newspaper to get the gist of the news and then leave the papers there as it is. This deficits the purpose of reading the newspaper as 44% of the world’s populations actually only read the headlines to know the summary of the entire news. Hence, it is clear to us that the time we have is very little especially so when we are living in this competitive society like Singapore. Therefore, the evidence presented to us above clearly indicated that newspaper do not have a part to play in our society.

However, looking at this issue regarding the fate of the newspaper from a politician’s point of view, we cannot see that newspapers have lost their footing in the industry as the number of people who purchases newspaper is still maintaining as The Straits Times Group is trying their best to diversify into real estate from its newspaper at a slow pace in order to ensure that they can be on par with the generation and at the same time retaining the traditions. Hence those relied solely on the sales of newspapers are still earning 75% of their profits today. To add on, a lot of people who take public transport to work every day would prefer reading the newspapers on their way to work instead of reading the news via their smartphones or tablets. One reason is because they need to face the computer for the day and it will be strenuous for them to face the computer screen for the entire day, so having a newspaper in their bag will give them another option to stay updated to the world around them.  Yes it is true, but in my point of view, many people would rather sleep on their way to their workplace than reading the newspaper as they want to have more rest given that they may have burn midnight oil the night before so they would want to catch up on their rest instead of reading on the train or the bus.

In conclusion, I believed that newspapers do not have a role to play in this technological age as we relied heavily on technological gadgets, the core business model is crumpling and that many do not have the time to spare to read the entire articles. Yes many may argue that newspaper still have a part to play but this group of people are the minorities, hence it does not clearly highlight the role that newspaper still plays in our society. Hence, newspapers have no part in our capitalist city.

How can we ensure that the economic interest of Singaporeans be protected?

As there is an influx of foreign talent into Singapore, more and more Singaporeans begin to develop a sense of insecurity in their work as they feel that they might be replaced by these foreign talents. This has prompted the government, community organisations and the private sectors to examine this problem. This essay will explain the ways in which our economic interest can be safeguarded. Firstly we can conduct more cultural exchange for the students so that they can better understand the culture of other countries, Next, we can equip our Singaporeans with a proper communication skills so that the communication can be facilitated. Thirdly, we can promote innovation among our youths so that the foreign companies will be more willing to offer us Singaporeans job in their companies. The community organisation will also liaise with the private sectors to have a probation period for both foreigners and Singaporeans in the foreign-based company that is situated in Singapore. Lastly, we can send the undergraduate to more places to intern so that they can gain more experiences in their field of work. Hence with these methods, hopefully the interest of every locals can improved instead of remaining status quo.

First and foremost, we can help ensure that the jobs available for Singaporeans remain widely spread by conducting more overseas cultural exchange to help the Singaporeans know more about the working habits of the people overseas for example China, Japan, Korea. In this way, when these students enter into the workforce after their graduation, they will be more capable and will stand out more in interviews as they will be able adapt to the various type of interviewers who could be from all parts of the world. With these experiences coupled over the years, our own Singaporeans would be able to remain competitive when it comes to job opportunities for them. For example in Serangoon Junior College, they have cultural exchange with the scholars from China and these PRC students will study with the locals for a week or two. In these two weeks, these students can interact with our local students and these can not only benefit these Chinese scholars but also our local students who can know more about the learning style of the students in  China but also their working style. Thus it will be like a stone that kills two birds. Hence, such exchange will help our Singaporeans become more competitive in jobs and thus cultural exchange is a way in which our education system can explore so that our economic interests remain protected.

Furthermore, we can look at the perceptive of improving the communication skills among our young Singaporeans thus allowing the facilitation of communication between foreigners and locals. This facilitation of speech allows us Singaporeans to understand these foreigners better and their working style which is crucial for us to know how to do to ensure that we can survive the "fight" for our jobs. More importantly, with the facilitation of communication would better able to out ourselves forward in face of the stiff competition between foreign talents and our home-grown teens as s we are able to tackle one of the root cause of why Singaporeans are not being employed today- the trust the foreign companies have based on the language we speaks. Hence through the introduction of bilingualism, we will better able to break the language barrier that is found between the foreign boss and Singaporeans. This would definitely ensure that the economic interests of the Singaporeans are being safeguarded.

Thirdly, the government can promote innovation among our youths so that the foreign companies will be more willing to offer us Singaporeans job in their companies. In the world we lived today, companies look for people who are creative, innovative and insightful so that they can better raise the standard of their companies, hence making them more competitive in their field of specialisation. Hence, by injecting innovation and creativity in our people at a young age, probably during teenage age, the locals would stand a better chance to be employed to the company. An effort to help the teens be more creative in their fields, the government introduced Project Work in Junior College to supplement the learning of the students in the junior college. Polytechnics and ITE also have projects that help their students to think out of the box. But do you think this is enough? Of course not, we should introduce more projects into the life of secondary school students. Yes indeed, the life of the secondary school students is stressful, but it can train them to maximise their time and thus developing the habit of time management which is another aspect that companies want – Quality work produced within the shortest period of time. Thus by injecting the creativity and innovation into the future pillars of our countries, we will be able to ensure that the job chances for the locals are not compromised but instead boosted.

In addition to all the measures listed above, the community organisation can also liaise with the private sectors to have a probation period for both foreigners and Singaporeans in the foreign-based company that is situated in Singapore. Many people will think that this is not very feasible as many companies from the private sectors are not very willing to do so due to their profit-earning mind-set. Hence, the community organisation can link up with the foreign based companies to conduct probation with a test of the locals’ ability. This is very essential as it allows the CEO of these companies to change their perspective of Singaporeans - that Singaporeans are lazy, Singaporeans are not as efficient as the foreign talents, Singaporeans are less capable than the rest- and it is this mind-set that we must change. Probation would be a good way to help these employers change their point of view. During this probation period, those Singaporeans under probation will receive the same wage as the foreigners. This is to ensure that some private companies would open their doors to accepting this scheme. With probation, these employers would change their belief and hire Singaporeans instead thus ensuring that our “rice bowls” are not taken away.

Lastly, we can send the undergraduate to more places to intern so that they can gain more experiences in their field of work. To ensure a higher chance of being hired, experience in the field will make a difference. Companies want competent and capable people who can help bring their company to a greater height. Hence, this is when the word “experience” comes in and this experience is very important to secure the jobs for Singaporeans. To ensure that the locals garnered enough experience, we should allow them to go for more internship during their vacations to help them experience their field of specialization, be it working as a lab assistant or an intern teacher. All these little experience garnered over the years of education will help increase their chances of being employed thus making their economic opportunities.

Looking at all the facts presented, it is clear that all the different sectors have to work together to ensure that the economic chances for all locals are clearly safeguarded. This includes the government who could ensure that students have more cultural exchange, injection of innovation into youths and internship opportunities. Community organization can equip our Singaporeans with proper communication skills and also liaise with the private sectors to have a probation period for both foreigners and Singaporeans in the foreign-based company that is situated in Singapore.