TELEVISION IN SINGAPORE: A BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO ITS TELEVISION INDUSTRY
2014; Volume: 5; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês
ISSN
2231-4172
Autores Tópico(s)Socioeconomic Development in Asia
ResumoABSTRACTTV arrived in Singapore on 15 February 1963 and since its inaugural launch Singapore's TV industry has undoubtedly developed over the years. In the context of the four theories of the press, it can be quickly concluded that Singapore's TV industry is Authoritarian by its regulative nature. Despite being a democratic country, the freedom to express freely what is on one's mind through the use of TV as a medium is still extremely restrictive. As a result, there are many reasons as to why Singapore's TV industry is still moderately unadventurous, especially where censorship is concerned. As the TV industry in Singapore is operated and fully controlled by the government, the content that appears on TV is usually highly censored, scripted to precision in accordance with the MDA guidelines, non-offensive and contain the usage of propaganda. This paper seeks to give a brief insight into not only the history and transformation of Singapore's television (TV) industry to what it is today, but also to better understand how the said country's TV industry currently operates, and how their content is produced as well as the impacts it has around the region.Keywords: Singapore, Television, Ownership, Censorship, Regulation.INTRODUCTION:In the context of the four theories of the press, it can be quickly concluded that Singapore's TV industry is Authoritarian by its regulative nature. This theory supports and allows the government to take power in accordance to what they deem may be rightful for their audiences. Thus, in turn, they control and decide what type of content is to appear on the mass media, for example: the TV industry in Singapore. On the contrary, the Social Responsibility Theory supports and allows the freedom to inform, educate, entertain, sell and last but not least, to raise discussions and have debates about issues that one may find conflicting. However, there is a fine line between the Authoritarian Theory and Social Responsibility Theory where Singapore's TV industry is concerned. Fred Siebert explained this when he described the Authoritarian Theory as a structure of ideology that the government uses to exercise social control, by means of them controlling the functions and operations of the press ( Fred S. Siebert, 1963). Singapore evidently adopts the methodologies Siebert mentioned, and the government exercises social control by being socially responsible with regards to the content that goes on TV. Despite being a democratic country, the freedom to express freely what is on one's mind through the use of TV as a medium is still extremely restrictive. As a result, there are many reasons as to why Singapore's TV industry is still moderately unadventurous, especially where censorship is concerned.History of Singapore's TV Industry:TV arrived in Singapore on 15 February 1963 and since its inaugural launch Singapore's TV industry has undoubtedly developed over the years. Needless to say, the inauguration of TV broadcast, and its abilities to capture and portray moments to the public was the birth of a new evolution in Singapore (Straits Times, 2013). On 2 April 1963, Singapore introduced its regular broadcast transmissions, on its only channel, Channel 5, where programmes were broadcasted in English and Malay. A few months later, a second channel was introduced, Channel 8. This introduction of the second channel broadcasted programmes in the Mandarin Chinese and Tamil languages. ( Singapore Infopedia, 2004)In 1965, when Singapore officially separated from Malaysia as its own independent country, the news was announced on local television. Having gained its independence, the Singapore government then became self-reliant and took control of the radio and TV, calling it Radio -Television Singapore (RTS). As the birth of monochrome TV was well received, colour transmissions ensued, but were met with limited success. Fortunately, it all changed when RTS announced that they would be screening the live colour telecast of the World Cup Soccer Finals via satellite later that year, and Singapore's TV history took a changed from there. …
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