SPH, ST editor Warren Fernandez given 'stern warning' for Punggol East exit poll

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An honorable member of the Coffee Shop Has Just Posted the Following:

Singapore Press Holdings and its flagship newspaper The Straits Times chief editor Warren Fernandez were issued stern warnings by the police for an exit poll it conducted in January this year that was against the law.

A statement from the Attorney-General's Chambers issued on Thursday confirmed the action taken — one that comes after months of speculation over whether the poll findings, which were published in an article dated 10 January, violated the Parliamentary Elections Act (PEA).

Three days later, the Elections Department said the police were looking into the matter. Fernandez then explained that the article was "not a full-scale survey, or scientific poll, by any means", adding that the headline had "overstated the significance of the information gathered by calling it a poll".

The article in question gave information detailing which party some 50 residents in Punggol East were planning to vote for.

"While 21 of those polled say they are undecided, those rooting for the People's Action Party outnumbered opposition supporters 19 to 10," said the report.

"The edge that the ruling party appears to hold may be a reflection of the incumbency advantage it has always held in a middle class, traditonally PAP-leading ward," it continued.

The Punggol East Single-Member Constituency by-election that was subsequently held saw the Workers' Party's Lee Li Lian winning the seat with a roughly 10 per cent victory margin.

As it was published after the Writ of Election was issued by President Tony Tan on 9 January, it violated the stipulated blackout period for the publication of any election-related survey results, described in Chapter 218 of the PEA as "during the period beginning with the day the writ of election is issued for an election and ending with the close of all polling stations on polling day at the election".

These police warnings were issued in lieu of public prosecution, which was done in 2011 when Joseph Ong Chor Teck was arrested for conducting an exit poll on the then-Temasek Review Facebook page.

Anyone who is found guilty of conducting an exit poll within the specified time period in the Parliamentary Elections Act is liable to face fines of up to $1,500 or a jail term of up to a year, or both.

http://sg.news.yahoo.com/sph--st-edi...092431013.html

Got KNNBCCB in the content of the stern warning? :oIo:


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