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Apr 14, 2010
Why Al-Jazeera pulled out
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THE Arabic news channel Al-Jazeera (AJE) was dropped from SingTel's mioTV news service because it generated little interest among viewers in Singapore.
At a media round table in Cannes yesterday, Acting Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts, Rear-Admiral (NS) Lui Tuck Yew, shot down spe-culation that the channel was dropped because it had done unflattering stories about Singapore.
In a statement after it was dropped by SingTel, a spokesman for Al-Jazeera was quoted in Content Asia, a trade publication, as saying: 'While we are disappointed to be pulling out of Singapore, we remain hopeful that the values Al-Jazeera stands for will in time be welcomed by Singapore.
'As the region's media hub, we also hope that Singapore can in future treat all international news channels equally.'
This led to speculation that its stories about prostitution and homelessness in Singapore led to such action.
But yesterday, RADM Lui said: 'I think the subscription was really low. They will tell you what they want you to hear. The truth is that there are so many channels, so many companies operating out of Singapore.'
Read the full story in Wednesday's edition of The Straits Times.
TAN WEIZHEN
Why Al-Jazeera pulled out
<!-- by line --><!-- end by line -->
<!-- end left side bar --><!-- story content : start -->
THE Arabic news channel Al-Jazeera (AJE) was dropped from SingTel's mioTV news service because it generated little interest among viewers in Singapore.
At a media round table in Cannes yesterday, Acting Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts, Rear-Admiral (NS) Lui Tuck Yew, shot down spe-culation that the channel was dropped because it had done unflattering stories about Singapore.
In a statement after it was dropped by SingTel, a spokesman for Al-Jazeera was quoted in Content Asia, a trade publication, as saying: 'While we are disappointed to be pulling out of Singapore, we remain hopeful that the values Al-Jazeera stands for will in time be welcomed by Singapore.
'As the region's media hub, we also hope that Singapore can in future treat all international news channels equally.'
This led to speculation that its stories about prostitution and homelessness in Singapore led to such action.
But yesterday, RADM Lui said: 'I think the subscription was really low. They will tell you what they want you to hear. The truth is that there are so many channels, so many companies operating out of Singapore.'
Read the full story in Wednesday's edition of The Straits Times.
TAN WEIZHEN