Print

Mail

wiki links

Political talk shows popular but not credible

Political commentators have made a fortune speaking on a series of topics on TV talk shows, from the trial of former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) to President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), the Taiwan High Speed Rail scandal and the controversy over the screening of a documentary on World Uyghur Congress president Rebiya Kadeer during the Kaohsiung Film Festival.

Each TV station has its own political views. Those opposing Ma would never criticize Chen and vice versa. Neither Ma or Chen is God and they both have shortcomings and positive sides, but political talk shows are always one-sided.

While talk shows in most normal countries strive to maintain credibility, Taiwan’s seem to completely lack impartiality and yet enjoy relatively high ratings. Some of these local talk shows have a clearly stated political color from the very beginning. They do not have act so much like media outlets as propaganda devices for a political party. Their viewer base shares the same political affiliation. On the other hand, some TV programs did not have a fixed political stance when they started out, but unknowingly attracted an audience with a certain political affiliation, forcing them to take on the same stance.

It is bizarre to see a TV program radically change its political stance to follow its audience. Critics have described these hosts as similar to a person who “jumps” in the water to save a girl only to ask who pushed him in when he comes ashore. In other words, today, a TV show’s political ideology is established by its audience rather than the host.

TV programs with a certain political affiliation completely abandon impartiality and political commentators defend the parties they support. They survive thanks to an audience that shares their views and has no social impact because neutral viewers or those with opposing views never watch their shows.

Many political commentators have changed their political views — from pan-green to pan-blue or vice versa — mainly because of conflicts of political interest. However, some political commentators have switched political affiliation just to make more money, viewing themselves as actors that put up a show for any TV program that pays better. Whatever role they play, they are still actors.

There is yet another kind of political talk show in Taiwan. Although these shows lack a strong political affiliation, they have the hallmarks of a political quack. In the past, quacks often appeared in the countryside selling medicine by staging performances. Despite their lack of medical knowledge, they managed to deceive the public into thinking that they were medical experts and spend money to buy their concoctions.

Such political talk shows often mislead the public. One example is the appointment of former Department of Health minister Lin Fang-yue (林芳郁) as superintendent of Taipei Veterans General Hospital early this year. Although those in medical circles understood why he was chosen, some political talk shows criticized the appointment as an attempt by the government to ingratiate itself with the pan-green camp.

Political commentators have also said that medical graduates choose to work in major hospitals because they want to build up a clientele. What they don’t know is medical graduates who have passed national qualification examinations still cannot practice medicine on their own but must work for a period under the supervision of a senior physician at a major hospital.

These political quacks are only misleading the public and hurting the nation.



Chen Mao-hsiung is a professor of electrical engineering at National Sun Yat-sen University.

TRANSLATED BY TED YANG
This story has been viewed 766 times.