SINGAPORE — SPH Media Holdings Board has tasked its Audit and Risk Committee to investigate the misrepresented circulation figures revealed via its internal review more fully, and consider what further steps, if any, need to be taken.
This was said in SPH Media Trust (SMT)’s first public statement over the circulation scandal that has embroiled its publications.
It was first reported by Wake Up Singapore (WUSG) on 8 January that several senior executives were either sacked or disciplined after an internal review discovered lapses in the reporting of circulation figures.
A day following WUSG’s report, SPH Media admitted to the matter via a report in the Straits Times.
According to the statement, the internal review was conducted by SMT, a Company Limited by Guarantee (CLG), after the transfer of the media business from Singapore Press Holdings Limited (SPHL) to assess the data it had taken over, including circulation data.
SMT noted that the circulation data reported in previous SPHL’s annual reports, was stated to be in accordance with the rules set by the Audit Bureau of Media Consumption Singapore (ABC).
As ABC ceased operations in Singapore in 2019, so to obtain data on reach and readership, SPHL commissioned surveys conducted by independent third-party research agencies such as GfK.
The internal review covered the period between September 2020 and March 2022 – which included a full financial year of SPHL from September 2020 to August 2021 – where the circulation numbers in some months were found to be overstated by up to 90,000 average daily copies.
An independent Big 4 advisory firm was commissioned to assist in the internal review.
From the preliminary findings of the Review, SMT found that the overstatement can be attributed to:
- 49,000 average daily copies (5% of total daily circulation then) of news titles recorded as circulation numbers but not distributed, which were of particular concern. The majority of these were digital copies.
- 5,000 average daily copies recorded after contracts had lapsed;
- 17,000 average daily copies recorded as a result of a failure to check that reported circulation numbers were accurate against actual usage tracked in the system; and
- a possible discrepancy of 19,000 average daily copies, which included a barter arrangement with another publisher.
The Audit and Risk Committee tasked to investigate the issues is chaired by Mr Max Loh, former Managing Partner of EY ASEAN & Singapore, and comprises Ms Lim Mei, Co-Head of Corporate Mergers and Acquisitions at Allen & Gledhill, and Mr Philip Lee, Vice-Chairman of Global Banking for Southeast Asia at HSBC Singapore.
The Committee will focus its investigations on the preliminary findings, commission legal advisors to assist in the investigation and report its findings directly to the Board of SPH Media Holdings.
SMT said it had earlier taken action against the staff involved in end-Dec 2022. As a result, four of these staff have since left the company, and three were served warning letters.
The CLG says that it is committed to upholding integrity in every part of its business.
To ensure data accuracy and accountability, SMT will:
- strengthen the separation of duties among staff, with enhanced checks and balances, for example, ensuring that staff who are reporting circulation numbers do not have the access rights to create or change entries in the customer database;
- ensure more frequent internal audit reviews such that reporting is done based on established methodology and verified to be accurate; and
- enhance data quality and improve accuracy of customer details, which includes data cleansing and independent validation.
According to a whistleblower, SMT’s CEO was said to have told staff to “let the matter rest” during a town hall meeting over the actions taken against the staff involved in the misrepresentation of circulation figures. No response has been received from SPH Media in regard to the clarification sought over this matter.
