A report published by a legislative agency recommended a statutory ban on government agencies promoting policies and government performance under the guise of news coverage, saying the practice had a negative influence on the role and objectivity of the media in a democracy.
In its report, the legislature's Organic Laws and Statutes Bureau said the practice, known as “product placement,” risked undermining public belief in the independence of the media, hampers the public's ability to deliberate and runs counter to democratic principles.
The report suggested including rules in the Government Procurement Act (政府採購法) that prohibit product placement and content that emphasizes the contributions and achievements of civil servants in the form of propaganda.
The report said the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) administration hadn't refrained from using product placements since it took office in 2008.
It said the government started to use product placements in 2003 when the Government Information Office (GIO) under the Democratic Progressive Party government required that media operators who intended to bid for public relations projects include product placement among their techniques.
The report also suggested that an article that would bar central and local governments from organizing activities related to presidential and vice presidential elections during campaign periods be included in the President and Vice President Election and Recall Act (總統副總統選舉罷免法).
When the government uses product placements, it distorts media values of objectivity in news coverage and editorial independence, the report said.
Under the practice, the media allow governmental agencies that sponsor product placement programs to revise and sensor news coverage. As a result, the media lose their function of advancing and maintaining the public interest, the report said.
In response, Executive Yuan Spokesman Johnny Chiang (江啟臣), who is also GIO minister, said that he respected the report.
He added that the government operates in accordance with rules and regulations and in line with the announcement previously made by President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) that the government does not engage in product placement for political purposes.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY SHIH HSIU-CHUAN
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
INSPIRING: Taiwan has been a model in the Asia-Pacific region with its democratic transition, free and fair elections and open society, the vice president-elect said Taiwan can play a leadership role in the Asia-Pacific region, vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told a forum in Taipei yesterday, highlighting the nation’s resilience in the face of geopolitical challenges. “Not only can Taiwan help, but Taiwan can lead ... not only can Taiwan play a leadership role, but Taiwan’s leadership is important to the world,” Hsiao told the annual forum hosted by the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation think tank. Hsiao thanked Taiwan’s international friends for their long-term support, citing the example of US President Joe Biden last month signing into law a bill to provide aid to Taiwan,
China’s intrusive and territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific region are “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive,” new US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said on Friday, adding that he would continue working with allies and partners to keep the area free and open. Paparo made the remarks at a change-of-command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where he took over the command from Admiral John Aquilino. “Our world faces a complex problem set in the troubling actions of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and its rapid buildup of forces. We must be ready to answer the PRC’s increasingly intrusive and
STATE OF THE NATION: The legislature should invite the president to deliver an address every year, the TPP said, adding that Lai should also have to answer legislators’ questions The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday proposed inviting president-elect William Lai (賴清德) to make a historic first state of the nation address at the legislature following his inauguration on May 20. Lai is expected to face many domestic and international challenges, and should clarify his intended policies with the public’s representatives, KMT caucus secretary-general Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) said when making the proposal at a meeting of the legislature’s Procedure Committee. The committee voted to add the item to the agenda for Friday, along with another similar proposal put forward by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP). The invitation is in line with Article 15-2