Singapore's 'The Business Times': Analyzing Communication Trends

This case study analyzes the challenges faced by 'The Business Times' in Singapore due to the rise of digitalization and changing media consumption habits. It explores the decline in print readership, competition from other news outlets like 'The Strait Times', and the shift of advertising revenue to social media platforms. The study investigates strategies for 'The Business Times' to retain and attract readers, focusing on adapting to digital trends, offering authentic news content, and reviewing pricing policies. It examines the importance of targeting younger audiences while maintaining relevance for business professionals, highlighting the need for a balance between traditional newspaper values and modern digital accessibility to ensure the newspaper's survival and profitability in the evolving media landscape. The document is contributed by a student and available on Desklib, a platform offering study tools and resources.

Running Head: Analysis of ‘The Business Times’ (Singapore)
Analysis of communication and Trends
Question-Answer
System04104
9/25/2019

Analysis of ‘The Business Times’ (Singapore)
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Answer-1
The newspaper industry is facing a strong downfall because of digitalisation in the
world. The use of Internet and mobile phones increasing every day and now phones and
Internet are the part of life and people use the Internet for reading or knowing anything
instead of newspaper. The growing use of technology somewhere affects the newspaper
industry or print media Industry. The same issue and challenges faced by ‘Business Times’
which is a popular newspaper of Singapore in the field of business news. The demand of
newspaper readers is declining every day with increasing number of smart phone users and
internet users. Especially, people between age of 18 to 49 years old are generally preferring
to watch or reading news on internet rather than purchasing newspaper for reading (Mutiara
& Priyonggo, 2019). The decreasing number printed newspaper reader is serious challenge
for the Business Times while the large number of competitors in this Industry is the second
major problems for Business Times. According to a research conducted by Pew Research
Centre, the large numbers of people in Singapore prefer to read “The strait Times” and it is
still most popular newspaper in the country. The major customer group for a newspaper is
millennial generation and without them Newspapers are quite doomed. Therefore, the
attraction of millennials towards the smartphone for newspaper reading is a serious concern
for the “The Business Times.”
Newspapers are still the cheapest mode of accessing news but the real problem with
the newspaper industry is that the still spend too much amount on the print cost of newspaper
(Pond & Lewis, 2019). However, the easy access of news through internet is possible for the
younger generation and they avoid the newspaper because they have their own smartphones
with large screen to read to newspaper (Molina, 2018). The Business Times spend heavy
amount in the staff, auditors, and employees who are working to bring news, collect it, and
print the news for the people but such cost cannot be recovered with low priced of
newspaper. Therefore, the high printing cost of newspapers will lead to high price of
newspapers. This is another concern for the “The Business Times.”
In the ere of cheap advertising channels such as social media like Facebook,
Instagram, and YouTube, newspapers are not remaining the first priority of advertising the
products or services for the corporates. Newspaper advertising is the most effective way of
earning money and finding cost for newspaper printing and other operational cost that

Analysis of ‘The Business Times’ (Singapore)
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involves in printing a newspaper (Iggers, 2018). However, The Business Times earns more
than 75% of its total earning from advertising and now the era of social media advertising
affect the whole business and profitability of the “The Business Times.” Through social
media, Corporates and large industry now can target a huge amount of potential customers.
Thus, they found that newspapers are not as effective as the other social media platforms
where they can easily advertise and promotes their products and services on very low cost to
a large number of people (Hanusch & Tandoc Jr, 2019). These issues and challenges directly
affect the entire newspaper industry and it also reduces the number of readers of “The
Business Times” that will affect its profitability. These challenges also create danger for this
newspaper to survive in the industry.
Answer-2
‘The Business Times’ is facing extremely serious concerns related to decreasing its
number of readers in the country. However, this newspaper must need to attract its reader
with some specific strategies and bringing change in the conventional style of newspaper
readings. The purpose of this section is to analyse the issues and challenges of “The Business
Times” and find out what alternative or strategies this newspaper should adopt to increase its
number of readers. This section analyses the current trend in the newspaper reading and
future opportunities for “The Business Times” to increase its market share again with
increasing numbers of readers. This section is based on secondary research and articles
published in the media or Internet about the critical challenges for “The Business Times”
newspaper.
Research Question: How “The Business Times” can retain and attract the readers
towards the newspaper in the changing trends and Challenges.
Research Method: The research is based on the secondary resources like Internet,
Newspapers, Journal articles etc. These secondary sources are used to collect relevant
information about “The Business Times” in minimum time with low cost.
Trends in declining the numbers of newspaper readers in Singapore
The Business Times is a first online news organisation of Asia and it deals in both
online and print media for newspaper publications. There are large number of customers who
are rely on this newspaper every day for the relevant and authentic access of news but the

Analysis of ‘The Business Times’ (Singapore)
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decreasing number of readers is the real concern for its print newspapers. However, the
online reader of this news channel is increasing every day. From last one decade when the
smart phones take place in the market, the numbers of newspaper readers are also increased
with increasing numbers of smartphone users. More local people in Singapore prefer to read
online newspaper on their mobile phones and it is the major cause of declining the demand of
printed newspaper in the country (Holm, Günzel, & Ulhøi, 2013). Apart from this, the
growing use of social media also a major cause of declining in the demand of print
newspapers because most of the millennials or adults prefer their phones and computers to
read the newspaper. According to a report, the average number of newspaper circulated daily
in Singapore in 2018 was 1098 while the same was 1264 in 2017 and 1507 in 2011. It means
there is a decreasing trend recorded in the newspaper reading in Singapore (SPH Media
Releases, 2018).
Among all the newspaper, The Strait Times is the largest newspaper organisation that has
more than 600,000 daily circulation of newspaper in 2017 that was 650,000 in 2016. The
same statistics was not favourable for “The Business Times” which has only 208,590 daily
circulations in 2017 that was 212,560 in 2016 (SPH Media Releases, 2018). However, the
decreasing numbers of daily circulations explains the current situation of The Business Times
in the country (Sartika, Hisjam, & Sutopo, 2018). It is also considerable that the readers of
“The Business Times” are those people who are interested in corporate news or business
news while the other people prefer the “The Strait Times” newspaper for the local news (Pew
Research Centre, 2019). This is really a challenge for “The business Times” to attract people
with specially business newsreaders towards its circulation. In Singapore, most of the people
prefer to read “The Strait Times” for newspaper reading because it is one of the leading
printed newspaper in the Country. According to a report, more than 51% of people prefer
print media of The Strait Times newspaper while 59% of people used other source of news
for accessing current and local news (SPH Media Releases, 2018).
It is really a serious concern for “The Business Times” that there are very less number
of readers of its print version while people accessing its online source of news in large
numbers. However, the major thing that is considerable for “The Business Times” that it
cannot arrange the funds from its advertising sources such as newspaper advertising because
large numbers of corporates move to social networking g sites for advertising their products
and services. Therefore, the company needs to think to rebuild its strategy that how it can

Analysis of ‘The Business Times’ (Singapore)
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attract or retain its customers for the long-time period. The competition from the other
newspaper agencies such as The Strait Times” is also a major concern for the company
because they are providing their newspapers on low cost and every part of the country that
make this newspaper more popular than “The Business Times” newspaper.
The decreasing daily circulation of ‘The Business Times’ newspaper is a major
concern for the company and it has to make some serious decision that how company can
make interesting and joyful for the youths in newspaper reading (George, 2019). It has been
found in many researches that modern youths are looking for entertainment in their every
activities and it should be considerable by every newspaper agency before printing or
circulating newspapers. However, the major customers “The Business Times” are small and
large entrepreneurs and business professionals who interested in daily market news and
activities. Therefore, it is really challenging for the newspaper agency to add some joyful and
relevant materials for the business professionals in the newspapers (Ottosen & Krumsvik,
2012). However, the attraction of youths towards the digital use and smartphones make them
more comfortable with the modern devices and they can easily access any news on fingertips
that saves the time of people in searching relevant news on the newspapers. According to a
research, it has been found that 60% of people spend time on Facebook for news reading
while 53% of people general social media for news reading but only 48% people access print
newspapers in the country.
One of the major things that force “The Business Times” to focus on adult viewers is
their ability to detect the fake news that is very common on the digital platform of news
channels. According to a research, it has been found that 79% of Singapore people are very
confident in detecting the fake news (IPSOS, 2018). The real and authentic source of news
makes the newspaper different from other sites or sources of news. The authentic source of
news with attractive headlines creates a different between The Business Times and social
media news. However, the major challenge for this newspaper agency is that attractive news
which is beneficial for the readers or attracts their sight towards the news headlines. This will
definitely helpful in attracting people towards the newspaper. It means that “The Business
Times” needs to focus on relevancy of and authenticity of news if they want to make more
customers. In Singapore, the monthly subscription for The Strait Times Newspaper is around
USD $24.65 per month but if we consider the monthly subscription price of The Business
Times, they one can find that it charges around USD $27.50 from every customers for

Analysis of ‘The Business Times’ (Singapore)
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monthly subscription (IPSOS, 2018). These will make this newspaper more costly than other
newspapers and most of the adults who prefer print media news cannot afford this newspaper.
Apart from this, its weekend edition of newspaper is more costly than daily newspaper cost.
The pricing factor in newspaper selling is an important factors and it affects the demand of
the newspaper. It means “The Business Times” must review its pricing policy to compete
with other local newspaper such as “The Strait Times” or ‘The New Paper” in the country.
The Business Times is known for its accurate and authentic news about the Singapore
and world business scenarios. Most of the professional and adults who are interested in
business news are very much dependent on the ‘The Business Times’ newspaper. However,
the quick and fast access of news through social media and other newspaper mobile apps is
another major challenge for this newspaper agency (IPSOS, 2018). However, the focus of
“The Business Times” newspaper to provide news on the printed papers in early morning of
the next day with accurate data about the current business scenario, but instant access of news
on social media platform is still a big challenge for “The Business Times.” However, it is
really a challenge for The Business Times to drive the initiative to attract readers towards the
printed media of news (Opgenhaffen & d’Haenens, 2015). It will be really effective if the
organisation target the young generation people between the ages of 18 years to 49 years of
age. The major emphasis of the “The Business Times” should be on providing authentic and
relevant news for the people who are interested in the Business news. This will also create a
difference between the “The Business Times” and other news sources like social media news
and digital form of news sources. However, advertisers are the souls of any newspaper
agency because they provide appropriate findings and are source of income of printed
newspapers. Therefore, The Business Times should also consider these factors while
attracting and retaining readers of its newspaper (Harcup & O’neill, 2017).
Answer-3
The Market Model in the communication industry states that the needs of the society
which includes information and communication, are best met by the dynamic economic
processes of supply and demand. It means that this model states that the needs of reader
should be full filled by the demand and competition factors that is ultimately serve the needs
of people in the society (Westlund, 2013). The ultimate concept of this theory is to earn profit
with delivering of producing interesting news that people want to watch. Although it attracts
large number of people but cannot survive for long time because of the immoral and

Analysis of ‘The Business Times’ (Singapore)
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unauthentic news and sources. The success or failure of the communication products will be
assessed by its profitability that is directly linked with the demand of that product such as
newspaper. The advantage of market model is that it promotes efficiency and responsiveness
because firms are restricted by rules and regulations. However, the major limitation of this
model is that it makes the market undemocratic and creates perpetual inequality in the market
(Makaruddin, 2018).
The second model is called Public Sphere Model in which communication firms serve
as an agent to circulate unbiased news and opinions of people or any entity. This model
promotes the transparency in the news media and it is not focusing on earning profits (Harcup
& O’neill, 2017). This model promotes the authenticity and real news instead of fake or
attractive news that enhance the demand in a sudden. This model can help the organisation to
grow steadily but it has longer impact on the readers. The public sphere model also presents a
framework using diversity of views and a standardisation factor to deliver news to the public
(Benghozi, Salvador, & Simon, 2018).
‘The Business Times’ here must follow the mixture of both the models. Although the
major focus should be on public sphere model because it promotes the real views and
opinions of people and also authentic news with real and true sources. The role of newspaper
media is to provide authentic news to the people rather than fake or meaningless news and
this is the major reason that most of the people are leaving their habits of reading newspaper
at home (Bruns, 2018). ‘The Business Times’ should follow the public sphere model for
delivering the news and should consider its readers as a citizen rather than customers (Harte,
Howells, & Williams, 2018). This though of the newspaper automatically raises the demand
of this newspaper that will further increase the numbers of customers in the Singapore
newspaper industry. The diversity in the media news channels are the primary factors and it
must be considered by ‘The Business Times’ because according to a survey it has been found
that 70% of people are smart enough in the county to detect the fake or unauthentic news
(Pattabhiramaiah, Sriram, & Sridhar, 2017). Therefore, a newspaper agency cannot operate in
the market for longer time period if the agency does not follow the basic norms of
communication. However, ‘The Business Times’ can make interesting and attractive
headlines for attracting people towards the newspaper but it must be rely on printing only
authentic and real information and news to the public.

Analysis of ‘The Business Times’ (Singapore)
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Answer-4
The modern readers including young adults to older adults all are looking for authentic
news in short and concise news in the newspapers while reading the newspaper. Apart from
this, the people are now looking for those news which are more relevant for the information
for which they reading or searching newspapers (Keane, 2018). It means the “The Business
Times” can segment the news according to the needs of customers and their requirements.
However, on the basis of above findings the most relevant and crucial recommendations for
“The Business Times” are as follow:
1. The Business Times should focus on printing authentic and real news for the people.
News related to national interest and security should be on the first page with some
attractive headings. The other thing that should be considerable during printing of
news is that news should be relevant and it should printed in short and concise manner
that helps the reader to save their time and also give crucial information what they
want to get from the newspaper (Schmidt, Ivanova, & Schäfer, 2013).
2. The young generation or millennial are looking for fund and enjoyment during
reading of newspaper. They also love to solve puzzles and games. Therefore, “The
Business Times” should include most interesting games and puzzles that can attract
new and young generation people towards reading of the news. Apart from this, “The
Business Times” must consider that what type of news the citizens of the country
want to read (Ha, Xu, Yang, Wang, Yang, Abuljadail, & Gabay, 2018). According the
public sphere theory, a communication organisation should consider its viewers as it
citizens first rather than customer. Therefore, then needs and interest of people should
be considered rather than fake news or unauthentic sources of news for publishing in
public to misguide people with inappropriate information.
3. The cost of “The Business Times” newspaper is more than the other local newspaper
in Singapore. Even the monthly subscription charge for the newspaper is high. The
organisation should consider the prices of daily newspapers and must charge an
authentic price for the newspaper. For this, “The Business Times” can contact the
producers and corporates and ask them to use this newspaper for advertising their
product and services (Klaehn, Broudy, Fuchs, Godler, Zollmann, Chomsky, Boyd-
Barrett, 2018). This will help the “The Business Times” to collect more funds for
printing the newspaper. The offers and discount on publishing the advertisement and
promotional messages of the company can enhance the number of corporates who

Analysis of ‘The Business Times’ (Singapore)
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wants to use newspaper for their first choice of advertisements because it is one of
cheapest and most effective way of advertising. Although, it can be said that “The
Business Times” must focus on its advertising strategy to collect revenue and make
the newspaper reading more effective and interesting for people in Singapore.

Analysis of ‘The Business Times’ (Singapore)
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Appendix
Figure (1) For Answer No. 2
Source: (Source: SPH Media Releases, 2018)
Figure (2) For Answer No. 2
(source: Bruns, 2018)

Analysis of ‘The Business Times’ (Singapore)
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Figure (3) For Answer No. 2
(Source: Source: IPSOS, 2018)