Singapore Press Club Awards Night 2026 Opening Address - 2M Indranee Rajah

Mr Patrick Daniel, President of the Singapore Press Club,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen

1. A very good evening.

2. Thank you for inviting me to this Press Club Awards night. I am very honoured to join you at what has become a signature occasion for the media and communications community. It's a celebration of excellence, and of those who have made lasting contributions to the community.

3. So I want to start by extending my warmest congratulations to the winners and Hall of Fame inductees this evening.

4. I would like to focus on three aspects of the media and communications that are critical in today’s environment.

   1. First, trust.

   2. Second, your role in nation-building.

   3. Third, expertise and knowledge.  

5. Let me take them in turn.

Fostering Trust

6. Trust is the most valuable currency of responsible journalism today. That is even more true today in a world where disinformation and online falsehoods abound.

7. New technologies, including AI, synthetic media, and deepfakes, have made it easier than ever to create and spread highly convincing falsehoods, potentially leading to an erosion of public confidence. There are also cases of deliberate false reporting, whether it be to catch eyeballs and advertising revenue or other reasons.

8. According to the Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2026, trust in the news has fallen to a record low of 37% on average across the 48 markets surveyed.

   1. This drop is partly driven by the growing reliance on social media and unverified content. 

   2. Audiences are also consuming information differently. Attention spans are shorter, and competition for attention is intense.

   3. The digital environment rewards speed and sensationalism over verification and context.

9. And that is why it is so important that our journalists must ensure that your work and your industry continue to carry the trust of our public and indeed all who consume your news.

10. Achieving such trust is hard-won. It requires high levels of professionalism and capability; the ability to operate with both speed and accuracy. But above all, it requires belief in certain values and the willingness to invest the time and effort to give effect to those values.

11. On this, I am happy to note that our local media continues to enjoy relatively high levels of public trust – built over time through a strong sense of responsibility to the public. The same Reuters Institute report found that local mainstream media outlets enjoy a high trust score of at least 66%, which is far greater than the average of 37% across the 48 markets surveyed. 

12. At a time when truth can be elusive and trust is fragile, your role in helping people to make sense of events and discern fact from fiction is indispensable. And so I urge all here today to continue to safeguard and strengthen that trust, and to guide each new cohort of journalists entering the profession on how to do so.

Contributing to Nation-Building

13. Next, nation-building. Last year we celebrated SG60. The Singapore Story continues to be written.

14. Our local media has long been an integral part of our Singapore Story.

15. At every critical juncture of that Story – from the early years after independence, to the Global Financial Crisis, to the COVID-19 pandemic to the changed world that we live in today – the media explained what was at stake as events unfolded. You connected global developments to local realities, helping Singaporeans to make sense of what was happening and how they stood in relation to it.

16. During the COVID-19 pandemic, misinformation spread rapidly. Yet, amid fear and uncertainty, Singapore continued to record high levels of trust in our local media. You helped debunk falsehoods, clarified public health measures, and gave people the clarity they needed during the crisis of a generation. This was not just good and responsible journalism – it also helped hold Singapore together at a time of greatest need.

17. Good journalism therefore plays an important role in nation-building and as we embark on this next chapter of the Singapore Story, I hope that our press will continue to be exemplars of this role.

Deepening Expertise

18. This brings me to my third point – expertise and knowledge.

19. In today’s digital world and the rise of AI, it is easy to sub-contract out many things to technology.  

20. Yet despite these tools, journalism and communications remain, at their core, a craft. And human beings remains solidly at the centre of that. No algorithm can substitute for the years spent understanding a beat, building sources, and learning how an industry or a policy actually works. A reporter who has covered the local healthcare system for a decade will ask a different question than one relying on a search engine. Similarly, a communications professional who has spent years in an industry will know which explanation will resonate with the public, and which will ring hollow.

21. So let technology be your tool, and not your master. The power of the written word, the lyricism of a phrase, the crispness of a sentence and the ability to inform, enlighten and to move hearts and minds should remain irrevocably in your hands – or at least at your fingertips as you touch the keyboards.

Conclusion

22. So let me conclude by extending my heartiest congratulations again to tonight’s winners and Hall of Fame inductees. Your achievements set the standard for excellence in the profession. Thank you for your dedication and your commitment to upholding standards that the public can trust.  

23. And to the Singapore Press Club, thank you for bringing the community together and for your continued efforts to uplift standards across the industry.

24. I wish all of you an enjoyable evening ahead. Thank you very much.