Type Daily newspaper Founded July 26, 1988 Circulation Target 300,000 daily | Format Tabloid Headquarters Singapore | |
Owner(s) Singapore Press Holdings | ||
The New Paper was Singapore's second-highest circulating paid English-language newspaper before it became a free newspaper in December 2016. First launched on July 26, 1988, by Singapore Press Holdings (SPH), it had an average daily circulation of 101,600 in August 2010, according to SPH.. But the newspaper's average daily sales had dropped to 60,000, according to Warren Fernandez, Editor-in-Chief of the English/Malay/Tamil Media group of SPH, before it became a freesheet. .
Distributed free of charge, The New Paper aims to reach a circulation of 300,000, matching Today, the other English-language free newspaper in Singapore.
The New Paper is a newspaper in tabloid form. It was originally published as a "noon paper", but since 2006 has been published daily in the morning from 7 a.m. onwards. There is also a noon edition that hits the newsstands on Mondays and Thursdays that gives more special coverage of late-night association football matches that occur after the morning edition goes to press.
The New Paper is often compared to the tabloid Today, although the latter positions itself against The Straits Times. The New Paper targets readers with more eye-catching tabloid journalism featuring sensationalist headlines. It tends to focus on local human-interest stories, with extensive sections on entertainment, fashion and sports. There is, in comparison with The Straits Times, very little coverage of international news. However, according to SPH, The New Paper presents "news with sharp angles not seen elsewhere", and perceives its paper to be "stylish", "arresting" and "easy to read" while tackling "complex issues".
The New Paper is noted for its coverage of sports news, particularly of association football (e.g. the UEFA Champions League and the Premier League). Amongst its sports journalists, Iain Macintosh was voted second runner-up for Best Football Journalist held by Soccerlens.com website in 2010.
FiRST which was originally published as a monthly, merged with The New Paper in May 2009, and was published as a weekly pull-out rather than monthly.
History
On 17 October 2016, Singapore Press Holdings announced a 10% cut of staff, and that My Paper and The New Paper (TNP) would be merged to form a revamped TNP that will be a freesheet from December 2016.