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Broadcast media's version of reality false

On Aug. 27, nearly two weeks after being kidnapped by militants in Gaza Strip, US-based Fox News correspondent Steve Centanni and cameraman Olaf Wiig were released unharmed, shortly after a video of the two reading statements that they had converted to Islam was released. Many viewed Centanni and Wiig's "confession" as an anti-US propaganda ploy, and the two men later said that they had been forced to convert to Islam at gunpoint. The question is why did the militants choose to kidnap journalists from the Fox News Channel, rather than from one of the other major US news channels?

The Fox News Channel was founded less than a decade ago, but its viewership has surpassed all other major US news channels. Many believe this is because Fox News relies on sensationalism to push an ultra-conservative agenda, which has made a comeback since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. Some also believe that the network has bent over backward in its support of US President George W. Bush's war on terrorism and US global dominance, resulting in a phenomenon referred to as the "Foxification of reality."

In other words, a large number of US viewers get their knowledge about the war on terrorism and global news in general from Fox. The station behaves as if it were the sole legitimate interpreter of the so-called "truth" about anti-terrorist activities, choosing to ignore or express doubts about the "truth" presented by others.

This reminds me of news reporting here in Taiwan. Isn't there a parallel between Fox News and the local media's arrogance arising from their own perceived right to interpret political reality?

The print media in general and newspapers in particular have long been the main news source for the nation's news channels. A few days ago, the Foundation for the Advancement of Media Excellence published a report on their observations on newspaper reporting from June to July. The report showed that the papers ran 15 unsubstantiated reports, including the Sogo Department Store gift voucher scandal, the men dressed in black allegedly hired by a central government agency to protect President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) son-in-law, Chao Chien-ming (趙建銘) and former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) reportedly calling on Chen to step down.

The majority of the broadcast outlets followed and even tried to outdo the print media by offering "complete" coverage of these unsubstantiated stories, without verifying them.

If the nation's democracy is in crisis, that can be attributed to the false reality created on our TV screens. More than 70 percent of the Taiwanese get their "reality" from their TV sets, but the "reality" offered by TV is biased and polarized, making dialogue nearly impossible.

Although I do not believe that a nation's leader should be exempt from media supervision, I find it even more difficult to accept the argument that the broadcast outlets are qualified to supervise the workings of the nation's democracy. According to a national survey that I conducted in May, more than 60 percent of viewers nationwide believed that TV news reporting was inaccurate and even irresponsible. If that was the result in May, what would the result be today? This raises the question of whether a medium with such low credibility can claim to be qualified to supervise the workings of the nation's democracy.

Last year, US media reform pioneer and filmmaker Robert Greenwald made a hit documentary called Outfoxed, showing how Fox News intentionally created false news and blurred the facts. When will we see a similar documentary tackling the same problem in Taiwan?

Lilian Wang is an associate professor in the journalism department at National Chengchi University.

Translated by Lin Ya-ti
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