Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong told local reporters on Sunday that last week's mergers of the loss-making television and free newspaper operations of Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) and MediaCorp were "unfortunate".

"We would have loved to have had two newspaper groups and TV stations if we could. It makes for a better competitive environment," the Straits Times, which SPH publishes, quoted Goh as saying at a community event.

However, Goh said this would not mean an end to a long-standing ban on foreign media groups holding stakes in the local industry, the daily reported.

"I think in the media field, we have to be careful about foreign players playing a major role," Goh said when reporters asked him about the issue.

Although the Straits Times did not give any further quotes from Goh, its headline to the story read in part: Door stays shut to foreign players.

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