Online Media of the Year: Biz & Fin No. 10 The Straits Times

Category: Business & Finance

Owned by: Singapore Press Holdings

Digital Media Unit Editor: Yeong Ah Seng 

Deputy Straits Times Interactive Editor: Eugene Leow

To say that Straits Times Interactive (STI) has a mammoth task on hand is an understatement. The online version of The Straits Times strives to continue the local daily's tradition of being the authoritative provider of local and Asian news, while aiming to utilise technology to give its readers more than the print edition can.

This is a tall order - given that The Straits Times is Singapore Press Holdings' 167-year-old flagship publication which already holds an impressive track record for providing its readers with quality news, in-depth analyses and impactful commentaries for events happening locally, regionally and worldwide. The Straits Times holds fort as the most widely read paper in Singapore with a daily average circulation of 385,690 in 2006.

STI rises to the challenge put before it with finesse - serving up extra ‘goodies' to its users in the form of breaking news, photo galleries, videos, web specials and interactive graphics in addition to the regular fare offered by The Straits Times. Not one to be left behind by the times, STI has also ventured into news-packaging in the form of vodcasts (video-on-demand broadcasts) and podcasts in the recent years.

These services come at a price though, ever since STI made a move towards being a paid subscription news site two years ago. Collectively, STI and other SPH online websites draw a total page-view of 100 million with six million unique visitors monthly, with recent STI advertisers being Shangri-La, NTUC Income Car Co-op and E-Bay.com.sg to name a few.

In line with its focus on the local market, STI possessed more mindshare with the locals, accruing eight times more votes from local respondents than from foreign respondents. STI was ranked either 1^st or 2^nd by the majority of local respondents who voted for it, suggesting not only that it was trusted more by locals, but also that it possessed top-of-the-mind recall with them.

By industry group, STI accumulated the highest number of votes from respondents from public relations agencies, followed by those from consumer products sector. That STI should capture high number of votes from public relations agencies makes sense, for it is no secret that relationships between public relations consultants and journalists - even the online ones - are often well-established.