Mothership's press accreditation suspended until Aug 18 following MCI review

SINGAPORE — Reporters from Mothership will not be allowed to attend briefings and press conferences by government agencies for six months until Aug 18, the Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI) said on Friday (March 25).

The decision comes after the online news outlet prematurely published details from the Budget speech by Finance Minister Lawrence Wong on Feb 18. Mothership later appealed against MCI's suspension of its press accreditation as a result of the error.

"Given the seriousness of the breach, which involved information that is highly market sensitive and prejudicial to national interest, MCI has reviewed the appeal and decided to suspend Mothership’s press accreditation for a total of six months, from Feb 18, to Aug 18," said MCI in response to TODAY's queries.

TODAY has also asked the ministry how it decided on the duration of the suspension.

Press accreditation cards are issued by MCI as a way for government agencies to determine the credibility of the media. 

Accredited media will receive government press releases earlier than those who are not, and invites to official events such as press conferences. They also receive favourable consideration for interview requests, according to MCI's website.

On Feb 18, Mothership had published an infographic of the staggered Goods and Services Tax (GST) increases on its Facebook page before Mr Wong announced them in his Budget speech.

To facilitate coverage of the speech, the Government had shared details on the GST announcements with selected media ahead of the announcement under embargo.

The ministry said at the time that it suspended Mothership's press accreditation with immediate effect. MCI informed Mothership to submit an appeal by March 4.

On Thursday, Mothership's managing editor Martino Tan said that the news outlet accepts the temporary suspension of its press accreditation "given the nature of the egregious breach on Budget Day".

Mr Tan added that Mothership will use the suspension period to strengthen its internal processes and implement remedial actions.

"This incident, while regrettable, is an important reminder to us of the standards required of a professional and credible media operation.

"Press accreditation is a serious and heavy responsibility, and our team will work hard to earn the right to this responsibility again come August," said Mr Tan.

In an earlier statement on Feb 20, Mr Tan had said that the breaking of the embargo "was a genuine mistake" and was identified in under two minutes, and that the infographic was deleted immediately.

The staff members involved were also suspended for two weeks, Mr Tan had said.