SPH Media and Nikkei to digitally transform their newsrooms in new collaboration

SPH Media and Nikkei, a Japanese financial news outlet, will partner together to share their experiences and practices in order to digitally transform both their newsrooms and products for audiences in Singapore and around the region.

The collaboration was reviewed by SPH Media Trust chairman Khaw Boon Wan and Nikkei chairman and group chief executive Naotoshi Okada who met up last week, according to The Straits Times. 

Don't miss: 3 reasons govt will continue to fund SPH Media despite circulation debacle

The collaboration will also include a project between SPH Media and Handshakes by DC Frontiers, a data analytics company. The first phase of the partnership will set out to enhance SPH Media’s digital news offerings through the use of Handshakes’ technology solutions. Handshakes currently uses proprietary data and artificial intelligence techniques to transform how businesses conduct their business.

Handshake's parent company, DC Frontiers, is backed by Nikkei, SPH Media and S&P Global.

ST added that SPH Media and Nikkei are discussing how to enter a memorandum of understanding in 2023's second quarter.

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE has reached out for more information. 

The news comes a month after SPH Media confirmed to MARKETING-INTERACTIVE that it had found inconsistencies in its circulation data, following a review of internal processes. According to the company, these inconsistencies include subscription contracts.

The case involved a discrepancy of 10% to 12% which is around 85,000 to 95,000 daily average copies across all titles. There was also double counting of subscriptions and destructed copies included in the count, according to an article on The Straits Times (ST). The article added that in another instance, a project account took in additional funding to purchase fictitious circulation numbers. Certain circulation numbers were also arbitrarily derived.

Following a review, the government announced that the saga will not change its decision to give funding support nor the amount it previously committed to providing to SPH Media Trust, according to Communications and Information Minister Josephine Teo in Parliament on 6 February. 

Related articles: 

Association of Advertising and Marketing SG asks for 'absolute transparency' from SPH
3 industry-wide ramifications post SPH Media's admission of circulation tampering
SPH Media chief sends out memo to adland trade partners clarifying rates
SPH Media confirms fudging of circulation numbers: Will this leave advertiser trust broken?