Today merger may affect media diversity, competitiveness

Lack of competition could cause journalists to be less driven in their jobs, says lecturer

- Tham Yuen-C

Senior Political Correspondent Amid increasing competition for eyeballs in the changing media landscape, the merger of online publication Today with CNA may make financial sense, but could also result in even less diversity in the local media landscape, analysts told The Straits Times.

They were commenting on the move to do away with Today as a standalone website. From Oct 1, the outlet will merge with CNA to become a long-form weekend magazine.

Announcing the move on Aug 28, Mr Walter Fernandez, editor-in-chief of Mediacorp which owns both news outlets had attributed Today's fate to the worldwide increase in news fatigue and active news avoidance.

These trends had been exacerbated by changes to social media algorithms that deprioritised news, and there was also a significant increase in the overlap between the audiences of Today and CNA, he added.

Media experts who spoke to ST about the merger were mostly not surprised about the consolidation.

Some noted that there had been rumours of Today's possible closure for years, since it went fully digital in 2017.

In 2020, Today revamped its logo in a bid to make it more vibrant and bold, as part of its pivot from targeting professionals, managers, executives and businessmen to a younger audience.

At the time, Today deputy chief editor Loh Chee Kong, who is now chief editor of Today and CNA Digital, said in interviews that the paper would be focusing on millennials aged 25 to 34.