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DPP cries foul on press freedom

Pan-green lawmakers yesterday slammed the government over a new report showing that Taiwan had dropped 11 spots in its press freedom ranking.

In response, the Government Information Office (GIO) said the government would work to improve the local media environment.

Although Taiwan kept its “free” status in press freedom, its global ranking dropped to No. 43 from No. 32 last year in the freedom of the press report released by the US-based Freedom House on Friday.

The report said global press freedom declined last year, with twice as many losses as gains. As for Taiwan, Freedom House said the decline was the result of “media in Taiwan fac[ing] assault and growing government pressure.”

“The decline shows there is room for improvement,” GIO Minister Su Jun-pin (蘇俊賓) said, adding that the government attaches great importance to the report and would actively study how to improve the situation.

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Huang Wei-cher (黃偉哲) said government intervention was behind the deterioration.

Huang said the manner in which media companies are managed was another reason for the decline, adding that some financial groups, following their purchase of media outlets, had ordered reporters to defend President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and demanded they file reports favorable to the government, minimize criticism and avoid the unification/independence issue.

DPP Legislator Chen Chi-yu (陳啟昱) added that the Ma government’s direct interference in the running of the Central News Agency and Radio Taiwan International last year was a cause for great concern for the International Federation of Journalists.

The government is planning to amend the Satellite Broadcasting Act (衛星廣播電視法) by adding a commentator clause, which is another attempt to restrict press freedom and has resulted in infighting at the National Communications Commission, he said.

Some media hold glaring double standards and have changed the way they report so that what was good in the past is now bad and vice versa to please Ma and the Chinese government, he said, adding it was worrying to see that media outlets would sometimes violate media practice by deliberately spreading false reports.

Last year, Freedom House ranked Taiwan No. 4 in the Asia-Pacific region, trailing only New Zealand, Palau and the Marshall Islands.

This year, Taiwan was tied at No. 7 with Vanuatu. Australia, Japan and Micronesia outranked Taiwan this year.
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