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LETTERS: Media can't think for you

As an ABT (American-born Taiwanese) who lives in the US, I am not affected by the media in Taiwan on a regular basis. But in my visits here in Taiwan and watching the news on TV, I have noticed the media in Taiwan is pretty biased in its reporting. I also believe there is a lot of ignorance and narrow mindedness in the people of Taiwan, with many relying on only the media to get information about the different parties.

I have found that of the 15 or so news stations in Taiwan there is only one station that is really unbiased in its reporting, while two or three support the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the rest all seem to have been bought by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT).

Many of the KMT-controlled media outlets seem to report politics in a biased fashion and often twist the truth or do not report the story completely. They don't show the cause of the issues and just automatically put the blame on the DPP without showing the real issue and its underlying causes. Many of the news stations continuously run this same biased news all day long. It seems to have a brainwashing effect on the Taiwanese.

I have noticed that the people who support the KMT are not really voting for their own ideals. A lot of the people -- especially the elderly -- seem brainwashed by the KMT-controlled media.

The media seems to be having a negative effect on the pan-green's campaign. The DPP should take an active role and correct the rumors that have been reported by the media and educate the people on the issues that are being blamed on the party.

Something should be done about the bias of the media. The news should be reported in an unbiased, accurate way and based on concrete evidence.

Some media outlets like the Taipei Times have made many good points on the status of Taiwan in the international community and on the inner politics of Taiwan. But it has only a small range of readers, since it is an English-language newspaper. The stories published in the Taipei Times should be distributed to a wider audience in Taiwan to educate them on the real threats that Taiwan is facing from both inside and out.

But on the other hand I believe that the people who support the DPP and do not want the KMT to hand Taiwan over to China on a platter, cannot just sit idly by and rely on the party to campaign all by itself.

People need to be more vocal and share their ideas with other people. They need to correct the false reporting and actually get out there during the presidential election and vote.

Jonathan Yen

Hillsborough, California

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