Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) yesterday said the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) needed to “reflect deeply” on the government practice of “product placements” in the media, adding that the administration of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) had failed to address the problem over the past two-and-a-half years.
Although the practice, also known as placing “advertorials,” was adopted 10 years ago when the Democratic Progressive Party was in power, the KMT did not address it after regaining power in May 2008, Wu told reporters.
“A government is bound to promote itself, so is a candidate, a political party, a company or a state, but there should be a clear distinction between news stories, advertisements and promotion,” Wu said. “Product placements should be avoided.”
Product placements “deceive” people, he said, because they are a form of paid advertisement masquerading as a news story.
“While it is impossible for -governments or companies to refrain from running promotions or advertisements, a line must be drawn to distinguish promotion and advertisement by businesses, political parties or individuals from objective news stories,” Wu said.
The controversy over the government’s use of advertorials came to the fore after veteran reporter Huang Je-bing (黃哲斌) resigned from the China Times on Dec. 12, likening the practice to the use of propaganda by the Chinese Communist Party. On Sunday, more than 100 reporters and professors of communication at various universities signed a petition calling on the government to stop resorting to advertorials, a practice they claim has grown substantially under the Ma administration.
Wu said he would declare at the weekly Cabinet meeting tomorrow that the central government and local governments should refrain from using advertorials in future.
Describing the practice as “dishonest” and “wrong,” Wu said using advertorials for the purpose of promotion or advertisement was also “unfair” to readers or viewers.
Government Information Office Minister Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) said the government was considering amending regulations to bar government agencies from using public funds for product placements.
Despite politicians across party lines agreeing on the need to defend the independence of the media, Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) said he did not expect to see related bills clear the legislature anytime soon.
Late last night, Presidential Office spokesman Lo Chih-chiang (羅智強), KMT Secretary-General King Pu-tsung (金溥聰) and Chiang, as well as KMT caucus whips Lin Yi-shih (林益世) and Lin Tsang-min (林滄敏), held a meeting at the Presidential Office to discuss the matter.
The meeting concluded that a “statutory prohibition” on the use of product placements was necessary to eradicate the problem and was a goal the government would pursue, a source told the Taipei Times on condition of anonymity.
Agencies would first exercise self-discipline and refrain from using advertorials, the source said.
The KMT caucus could also initiate a resolution to be attached to the government budget statement for next year to prohibit government agencies from using public funds for product placements, the source said.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY FLORA WANG, KO SHU-LING AND STAFF WRITER
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