Wed, Apr 09, 2003 page8

• Editorial: Keep politicians out of the media

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  On Monday, we heard reports that a political commentary program hosted by independent Legislator Sisy Chen (陳文茜) on Star TV's Chinese channel had been canceled. On the same day, Chen held a press conference and said that the program's halt may have been due to political interference. She even fingered President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) for allegedly giving the order to cancel the show. We are deeply outraged by such baseless accusations. Legislator Chen need not try to raise her profile by blaming others for the cancellation. She has certainly experienced failures of her own making in the past.

  Sisy Chen knows that for an elected official to conduct political commentary on television is unethical. If the TV station no longer wants to carry her program, or if her viewership ratings have fallen, then termination of the program is quite natural. It has nothing to do with a conspiracy. Power News (勁報), a newspaper run by Sisy Chen, folded a couple of years ago. That, in addition to the TV program cancellation, should indicate that although Chen may be a popular politician, she is absolutely not adept at running media ventures. If her program was truly popular, then she could go to any of the other channels that carry political commentary programs.

  Many Taiwanese appear to have forgotten that the freedom of speech we enjoy today did not fall from an empty sky. This right we enjoy was something won for us through a sacrifice of blood by many of our forebears. Remember that it was only fourteen years ago that a democracy fighter ended his own life to protest against the suppression of freedom of speech and to safeguard the dignity of intellectuals when he was surrounded by cordons of police and military troops.

  Nylon Deng (鄭南榕) launched the dissident weekly magazine Freedom Era in March 1984 in order to seek "100 percent freedom of speech" in Taiwan's media. The magazine closed six months after his death. During the 68 months that the magazine was in circulation, every single issue was banned or confiscated by the Taiwan Garrison Command. In January 1987, Deng published a "Draft Constitution of the Republic of Taiwan" in the magazine and was indicted for treason as a result. On April 7, 1989, the KMT government sent a large police and military force to his magazine's office to arrest him. Determined not to be humiliated, Deng decided to barricade himself in his office and immolate himself at the age of 41. He was survived by a wife and a daughter.

  On Monday, the 14th anniversary of his death, more than 200 people from around Taiwan braved the heavy rain to attend a memorial service for him at Taipei County's Chinshan County, to remember the sacrifice and contribution he made to freedom of speech in Taiwan. It is a tragedy that Taiwan has a number of officials hosting one-sided, ideologically driven political programs in the media, while others still blatantly interfere in media operations, thereby abusing our hard-won freedom of speech for their own gain. This is a shameless violation of political ethics.

  We would do well to remember Deng's admirable character. We believe that people holding public office, from both the ruling and opposition parties, should cut the umbilical cords which link them with the media. Politicians should cease their prevaricating. The reformation of our political culture should begin with self-reform within the media. This is the only way to ensure that the people of Taiwan receive fair, objective and independent perspectives.
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