Thugs recently burst into the offices of the controversial weekly magazine, Next, smashing doors and windows, in what appeared to be a warning after it published information about legislators with links to organized crime and the sex industry.
The incident of its ransacked offices is of much greater significance than any of the previous controversies Next has stirred up, because it reflects the fragility of press freedom in the shadow of organized crime.
Regarding this incident, many entertainers who suffered in the past at the hands of the paparazzi were overjoyed and applauded the development, calling it "alternative management for irresponsible media organizations."
Such views, however, reflect a fundamental failure to understand the harm the incident has done to social justice and order. The news media have always been considered the "fourth estate," separate and independent from the executive, judicial, and legislative branches of government.
Journalists are frequently called either "uncrowned kings" or "cultural hooligans." From the implications of these names, it is clear that the news media has a profound influence on society and can't be ignored. However, threats and persecution from organized crime plague that influence -- not to mention the interests of average people, whose ability to be heard is limited.
For Taiwan's journalists, both today and in the past, threats and persecution from organized crime have been a nightmare that won't go away. For example, in 1994 gangsters burst into the Pingtung branch of a newspaper, destroying property and assaulting reporters. Not long ago, the host of a certain news program received telephone threats from an organized crime "boss" after the host had revealed behind-the-scenes information about a television shopping channel.
Research has found that apart from using bribes or threats to force reporters to gloss over misdeeds, organized crime also actively invests in the media in order to manipulate the news and clean up its own image. In the face of threats and bribes, reporters either adopt a "better safe than sorry" attitude or develop their own unique disaster-avoidance strategy. They are frequently evasive in their interviewing and writing so as to ensure they report "safely."
On this year's World Press Freedom Day on May 3, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and other high-level figures published a joint declaration stating that although freedom of the press has continued to expand over the last 10 years, it is still regularly threatened at every level.
One such threat comes from organized crime. A report from the organization Reporters With-out Borders found that in 1998, 19 reporters died on the job. The majority died because they were investigating corruption or because they revealed collusion between authorities and organized crime groups.
From this we can understand that in authoritarian countries or dictatorships, freedom of the press is primarily suppressed by the regime in power, but in democratic societies, the threats and persecution faced by reporters primarily comes from organized crime.
In the face of such dangers, how should journalists conquer their fear? From past incidents, we can see both the bravery and the awakening of journalists.
In August 1995, two Taichung reporters were severely beaten in what is thought to have been retribution for their reports about organized crime figures. In order to express the urgency of their case as well as their determination to protect the freedom of the press, the Association of Taiwan Journalists (台灣記者協會) made a proclamation demanding that the government pay more attention to the personal safety of reporters.
The association won the support of over 2,000 news workers from all over Taiwan in what was the largest joint petition drive in national journalistic history.
From this incident, we can also see the aversion that news reporters feel to the threat they face from organized crime. It is therefore easy to understand the constant stream of cases of organized crime negatively influencing the work of reporters.
Although our constitution doesn't explicitly safeguard freedom of the press, it should be possible to extend the "freedom of publication" in Article 11 of the Constitution to include "freedom of the press." In the face of the tabloid media that is so prevalent today, press freedom shouldn't be abused. The media must have mechanisms for self-regulation, and the sensationalism and fabrications of irresponsible organizations should be condemned.
But even if the media has reported untrue information or invaded someone's privacy, individuals should go through normal channels to defend themselves against the press. It is absolutely unacceptable to use violent measures to arbitrarily infringe upon press freedom because that freedom is the very foundation of a healthy democratic society under the rule of law.
Damaging the freedom of the press will make the media less effective and less able to expose illegal activity. The entire society will be severely harmed as a result.
Paul Ho is a graduate student in the department of journalism at National Chengchi University.
Translated by Ethan Harkness
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