Academics and representatives of various non-governmental organizations (NGOs) yesterday voiced their worries about the buyout of Next Media Group’s (壹傳媒集團) Taiwanese operations, urging the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) to consider the importance of having diverse voices in the media when reviewing the deal.
At a public hearing organized by the commission yesterday, former FTC commissioner Shih Jun-ji (施俊吉) said the review of the Next Media buyout is the most important case in the commission’s history.
Shih said the commission should spare no effort to prevent buyers from circumventing the law, adding that the Fair Trade Act (公平交易法) stipulates that the commission should not only take into consideration the benefit to the economy as a whole, but also the public interest.
Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Taipei Times
In terms of the public interest, the government should create an environment that allows newspapers to produce materials from as many perspectives as possible, while the accuracy of news is also of vital importance, he said.
There is no economic benefit for society from the deal, while the disadvantages that will result from it are that the public will only be given limited perspectives on events in the future, Shih said, adding that there is no reason for the commission to approve the deal.
Association of Taiwan Journalists (ATJ) president Chen Hsiao-yi (陳曉宜) emphasized the unique nature of the media as a means for the public to obtain information. She demanded that the FTC’s commissioners review the case differently from other cases.
Chen said the print media have agenda-setting power for the entire media industry and have often dictated what news is broadcast on local TV stations the following day.
Therefore, because of the influence print media have, it is not sufficient for the commission to make a decision based on market share alone, she said.
Citing a survey conducted by AC Nielsen, Jang Show-ling (鄭秀玲), a professor of economics at National Taiwan University, said Want Want China Times Group’s (旺旺中時集團) share of Taiwan’s media market would exceed 50 percent after the buyout deal goes through.
As Want Want Group has a record of using its media outlets to attack its critics or those who stand in its way, Jang said the disadvantages resulting from the Next Media deal are too significant to be ignored.
Jang became emotional when she said that she had to stay alert on the street because of her involvement in the case.
FTC spokesman Sun Lih-chyun (孫立群) said that the commission would try to incorporate the importance of diverse voices on the media into their review process.
Sun said the information the commission has now suggests that there are two groups of buyers and two contracts. One is related to Next Media’s print media and the other to its electronic media.
The commission has yet to receive a formal submission of the deal, he said.
A signaling system malfunction disrupted high-speed rail (HSR) services beginning at 8am today, with trains temporarily reduced to three northbound and three southbound trains per hour as authorities conduct inspections. The malfunction occurred on a section of track in Miaoli County during pre-operation checks early this morning, forcing northbound and southbound trains to use a single track, the HSR operator said. The regular schedule has been replaced with three hourly trains offering only nonreserved seating in each direction, stopping at every station, it said, adding that business class cars would still have reserved seating. Departures from terminal stations are scheduled at the top
DRONE CENTRAL: Taiwan aims to become Asia’s democratic hub for drones, with most exports focused on high-quality military-grade models, an official said Taiwan’s drone industry is expected to expand significantly by 2030, producing 100,000 units per month and exporting half of them, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Current drone production capacity is about 15,000 units per month, but the industry can quickly scale up as demand increases, Industrial Development Administration Director-General Chiou Chyou-huey (邱求慧) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s drone output grew 2.5-fold last year to NT$12.9 billion (US$408.3 million) under a government program to develop the uncrewed vehicle sector, he said. The Executive Yuan in October last year approved plans to invest NT$44.2 billion into domestic production of uncrewed aerial
VERBOSE VESSELS: A CGA cutter and a China Coast Guard exchanged verbal barbs for more than a day in Taiwanese-controlled waters before the Chinese vessel left The Taiwanese and Chinese coast guards had a standoff near the strategically located Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the north of the South China Sea, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday. The two sides engaged in intense radio exchanges over sovereignty claims during the 33-hour standoff. China Coast Guard vessel 3501 eventually left the restricted waters, 26.6 nautical miles (49.2km) west of the Pratas Islands, at 5pm yesterday, the CGA said. Lying approximately between southern Taiwan and Hong Kong, the Taiwan-controlled Pratas are seen by some security experts as vulnerable to Chinese attack due to their distance — more than
WARNING: China should stop engaging in actions that undermine regional peace and stability, as it would only build resentment among people across the Strait, the CGA said China has deployed more than 100 navy, coast guard and other vessels in waters from the Yellow Sea to the South China Sea and the western Pacific since US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) met in Beijing, National Security Council Secretary-General Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) said yesterday. “In this part of the world, #China is the one & only PROBLEM wrecking the #StatusQuo & threatening regional peace & stability,” Wu wrote on X. In a separate post, he said Beijing was coercing Taiwan’s maritime domain, calling it illegal and provocative, after the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) expelled a
RSS