A recent interview with President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) has caused some Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) politicians to reveal their undemocratic natures and lack of progressive ideas.
A few weeks ago, former vice president Annette Lu (呂秀蓮), in her role as founder of the Formosa Media Co and Formosa Weekly magazine, interviewed Ma, chatting at length about various aspects of national policy. Surprisingly, some of Lu’s colleagues in the DPP made comments about the interview that betray their poor grasp of democratic and progressive principles.
First, their ideas are not as democratic as one would hope. When Lu visited the president, it came as a surprise to see certain DPP politicians accusing her of having “lowered her status.” Evidently, they think the status of a former vice president is superior to that of someone who set up a magazine or TV station. They seem to have forgotten that the president of a democratic country is no more than a civil servant and the citizens are the real bosses. As soon as presidents, vice presidents or any other civil officials or military officers leave their posts, they revert to being “ordinary masters of the nation,” just like everyone else. All masters of the nation are equal, no matter what their title — as long as it is legal.
Besides, news media play an important role in democratic politics, and are often seen as a fourth estate whose role is to oversee the three branches of government. That being the case, when a media organization interviews the president, it is not just acting within its rights, but performing its sacred duty. Is it not absurd to pretend that the former vice president is superior to ordinary members of the public, or to the media, and that she demeaned herself by conducting the interview?
Second, these DPP politicians are not as progressive as they would have us believe. One of them, who like Lu is founder and chairperson of a media group, voiced the opinion that there was no need for Lu herself to interview the president, and that “sending a reporter would have been good enough.” The obvious implication is that the status of the founder or chairperson of a media organization is higher than that of a reporter. The politician in question was clearly speaking from the class standpoint of a capitalist. Evidently this DPP politician’s notion of democracy does not apply to relations within a company, and that is not democratic enough.
Besides, news media are different from ordinary businesses in that their foremost mission is to promote the right to know rather than just to further private interests. Any newsperson worthy of the name, given a worthwhile chance to interview an acting president, would of course be eager to grab the opportunity. When a politician who runs a media outlet says that “sending a reporter would have been good enough” for an interview with the president, it not only reveals the speaker’s boss mentality, but also suggests that he or she does not really understand the mission of the media.
Politicians love to get exposure by airing their views through the media. They should be aware, however, that it cuts both ways. If their comments are worthy, they will make themselves more popular, but if they make lousy comments, they will shoot themselves in the foot. The views expressed by certain DPP politicians about Lu’s interview present us with a topic for further thought. To borrow the words of Sun Yat-sen (孫逸仙): “Democracy and progress have not yet succeeded. Comrades, your ideas need updating!”
Weber Lai is head of the Department of Radio and Television and the Graduate School of Applied Media Arts at the National Taiwan University of the Arts.
TRANSLATED BY JULIAN CLEGG
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