DPP grills `United Daily News' for incorrect stories

The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday accused the United Daily News (UDN) of tarnishing the reputation of President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and his administration by publishing what it said were irresponsible and incorrect stories.

Wu Nai-jen (吳乃仁), spokesman for the DPP's campaign headquarters, presented a copy of a letter sent to the head of the newspaper at a press conference yesterday.

"The United Daily News published three stories, unverified and unattributed, on Feb. 6, 8 and 11 accusing the DPP government of involvement in a bribery scandal," Wu said. "But the stories do not have any specific evidence."

"These stories not only mislead the public and hurt the president's honor, but also endanger the reputation of the United Daily News," he said.

Wu said the stories are in violation of Article 92 of the Election and Impeachment Law, which regulates spreading rumors in an attempt to affect the outcome of an election.

He called the media's performance during this presidential election campaign the worst in more than 20 years.

Wu said the intention of the United Daily News to sway the election has damaged the credibility of the media, and the DPP hopes the letter will prompt the newspaper to improve.

He cited an editorial in the United Daily News on its 47th anniversary that upheld "anti-communism, democracy, unification and progress" as its principles, but said the newspaper has violated its own principles and ethos.

Wu said the DPP could no longer put up with such irresponsible reports and that it decided to fight back against the paper.

"We will start with a rational appeal, but we haven't decided yet whether to take legal action against the United Daily News."

"Article 92 not only refers to civil issues but also may lead to imprisonment for five years," Wu said. "If the United Daily News fails to make an improvement, we will resort to legal procedures."

Responding to Wu's remarks, the paper issued a statement saying, "The United Daily News deals with stories according to journalistic professionalism and journalistic ethics."

It called on candidates to respect the media's role in society.

Meanwhile, the DPP's campaign headquarters said the pan-blue camp was using campaign tricks that have been condemned in other democratic countries.

"The first kind of blue-camp negative campaign trick is to make up facts and then implicate an opponent," Wu said, "like when former legislator Lin Ruey-tou (林瑞圖) claimed that Chen Shui-bian had gone to Macau for a wench in 1998.

"The second one is to create a sensational story for slandering. This includes when People First Party [PFP] Legislator Chiu Yi (邱毅) suggested that Chen Shui-bian had an affair with a famous actress in March 2000," he said.

"The third is to viciously impute blame to another, such as when PFP Legislator Diane Lee (李慶安) accused former Department of Health head Twu Shiing-jer (涂醒哲) of being involved in a sexual harassment case in October 2002. She later apologized for accusing the wrong person," Wu said.

"The last kind is to spread slanderous rumors with groundless talk, such as PFP Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) claiming that Chen Shui-bian spent US$1 million to have a meeting with a family member of US President George W. Bush -- an accusation for which Soong never provided evidence," he said.