A recount of ballots cast in the presidential election finally began yesterday -- the largest vote recount in Taiwan's history. The local media's old habits of reporting unconfirmed information and rumors will probably recur in the coming days as the judicial authorities carry out this notable event.
This phenomenon can be seen from yesterday's television coverage of the recount story. Taiwanese audiences will probably fall victim to endless live reports once again during the recount. The media organizations' abuse of the fourth right of democratic societies will drastically diminish their little remaining credibility.
Yao Jen-to (
Although this kind of survey is not entirely trustworthy and Yao's mention of the ranking was meant to satirize the news media, undeniably much harm has been done to Taiwan's media organizations since the presidential election campaign. The problem lies in the media's over-emphasis on sensationalism, and the competitive pressure to be the first to report a story -- even if this means not making efforts to confirm it.
The problem is that the "news stories" the media have fought to report first are not facts but inaccurate reports made up either by these media organizations or by others. On the evening of the presidential election, for instance, all cable TV channels used false numbers before 6 pm to mislead the public to believe that the pan-blue camp's candidates, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (
A call-in show host, Wang Ben-hu (
As the recount is under way, we understand that the pan-blue camp's aspiration is to alter the presidential election's results. The green camp hopes that the recount will prove that its victory has been legitimate.
Yet Taiwan's voters are also watching closely the two camps' performance during this period. Their decisions regarding which parties they will support in the year-end legislative election will be based on the camps' behavior during this event.
Both camps should therefore refrain from attempts to use the media to disseminate false information to influence the recount results. Otherwise they are not only making the media accomplices in the crime of destroying harmony in our society, but the politicians and parties that deliberately mislead the public also will be cast aside by the voters once the truth is known.
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