ACNielsen's Media Index 2003 for Singapore revealed that the percentage of people reading newspapers dropped to 85 per cent of the literate population, down two per cent from the year before.
MindShare Singapore managing director Manpreet Singh noted that based on the detailed report, the overall newspaper readership among PMEBs (professionals, managers, executives and businessmen) and other white collar workers fell by three per cent.
With fewer white collar readers overall, some newspapers have been badly affected, namely The Business Times and freesheet Today. The readership of The Business Times has dropped 29 per cent while that of Today dropped 14 per cent over the year before.
According to Manpreet, the most likely cause of this trend is the loss of white collar jobs in Singapore in 2003.
In September, unemployment in the city rose to a 17-year high of 5.9 per cent.
White collar workers have been especially hit by the economic slowdown.
Both Today, which is distributed at MRT stations, and The Business Times, are read either on the way to work, or at the office.
With fewer white collar workers at the office, readership for these newspapers has plunged."What media planners need to do is when we look at newspapers, we need to know how to optimise. We have to look at which newspapers have been increasing in readership and which have been falling," said Manpreet.
"We have to look out for duplication. If the drop is very significant, then we have to look for alternative channels."
MediaCompete Singapore general manager Raju Bakta had a different observation.
He noted: "On close inspection ... the overall circulation has gone up primarily driven by the freesheets."
He pointed out that the overall growth of newspaper circulation was five per cent. However excluding free tabloids Streats and Today, newspaper circulation only went up 0.8 per cent.
"Are people getting more selfish and not sharing their copies with others, or have people stopped reading? The answer will require a bit more study," he said.
However, Bakta said the drop was minor and not something of concern in the short term, while Singh noted that the figures tended to fluctuate from year to year.
Nielsen Media Research executive director Rebecca Tan attributed the two per cent drop to readers narrowing down their choices.
She also pointed out that after the liberalisation of Singapore's media industry, a number of new dailies were introduced, which led to the overall increase in readership in 2002.
"Once it stabilised, the wider range of choices gradually led to a segmentation of readers, as people decided on which paper best catered to their lifestyles," said Tan.