Wed, Nov 19, 2003 page8

• Editorial: Spoof videos raise serious issues

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  Angered by certain Taiwanese politicians and the many media institutions that are biased in favor of them, a group of students from National Taiwan University and Shih Hsin University recently decided to put their education to use by making a series of satirical videos called Special Report. The students raised money from others who shared their political views -- including at least one goose meat vendor -- and they spent their summer vacation producing a series of videos that they hoped might become as popular as the award-winning lampoon programs that appear on Taiwanese television.

  The primary targets at whom these young social critics took aim were legislators belonging to the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and People First Party (PFP) -- along with TV anchors and journalists who support them. They criticized a few Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) politicians as well.

  The students controlled every aspect of the videos' production, from scriptwriting to camera work. When it came to casting, they used only actors and actresses who could speak Hoklo, also known as Taiwanese. And they did extensive research of newspaper, magazine and TV reports so that they could satirize the public figures described therein. The students understood very well how to make a video, but they did not understand the political environment in which the Taiwanese media operate. Only three years have passed since Taiwan underwent a major political transformation, and over 90 percent of Taiwan's media is still controlled by pan-blue forces. As a result, Taiwan Television, which had initially pledged to air the videos, changed its mind under political pressure from the KMT and the PFP. The students then sought air time at other TV stations, but they were turned away. Finally the Southern Taiwan Society, a pro-green political organization, agreed to help them sell the videos.

  The students also might not have understood the reaction that their work would provoke. PFP chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) publicly criticized their work as "low-class," and Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), under pressure from New Party councilors, ordered the confiscation of all copies of the video being sold in the city. But it was this very reaction that finally caught the attention of the media and the public. On the same day that Soong made his comments, portions of the video were aired on TV -- and unwittingly, Soong and Ma have served as Special Report's top salesmen.

  On Monday afternoon, the Government Information Office directed government agencies to stop confiscating the videos. In effect, they proclaimed that Special Report was perfectly legal.

  In the midst of all this controversy, the people of Taiwan should take the opportunity to reflect on the reasons that the students who made these videos were so discontented to begin with.

  Consider ethical standards in politics. Commonwealth magazine, a respected pro-blue business publication, recently published the results of a public opinion poll that focused on the moral integrity of politicians. The poll found that Soong -- who was the central figure in the Chung Hsing Bills Finance embezzlement scandal -- had a higher reputation for ethical behavior than did President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝). How can the people of Taiwan accept a situation in which the nation's current president and its former one are actually considered less ethical than Soong, who is still being investigated over his suspected theft of billions of NT dollars?

  Special Report can be seen as a kind of public counter-force to the sorry state of political ethics in Taiwan. Even though the mainstream media shunned the videos as long as they could, the Taiwanese people have made their feelings clear by snapping up copies of the videos all across the island.
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