CtiTV yesterday apologized for what it described as a “negligent” translation of its interview with Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) professor Noam Chomsky about the ongoing controversy over the movement against media monopolization in Taiwan.
The interview, conducted last week by CtiTV Washington bureau chief John Zang (臧國華), came in the wake of a series of articles in the Chinese-language China Times — part of the Want Want China Times Group (旺旺中時集團) — alleging that Taiwanese graduate student Lin Ting-an (林庭安) had deceived Chomsky by failing to explain the slogan on a placard the professor was photographed holding that denounced “China’s black hands” interfering in local media.
Lin had contacted the 84-year-old Chomsky by e-mail to provide him with background information on the movement and fears of Chinese influence in Taiwanese media before visiting him at MIT. She made the e-mail public last week and said she had explained the situation to Chomsky before the photograph was taken.
Photo: Huang Chen-yi, Taipei Times
As reported by the Taipei Times on Saturday, Chomsky said in an official e-mail response that he did not fully understand the contents of the placard, but denied that he was misled by Lin, blaming the “misunderstanding” on his inability to read Chinese.
In his CtiTV interview with Zang, which was aired on Saturday, Chomsky said he was “misled by my lack of ability to read Chinese,” adding that he could not understand what was on the placard.
“I still don’t know what it says,” he said.
After a narration by Zang, Chomsky then said: “Sometimes it’s a conscious effort to misuse … I found out about such cases so often.”
The comments were not given any context, making it unclear if they were related to the placard, Lin’s approach or any of the sensitive political issues the professor has involved himself with over the decades.
However, Zang tied Chomsky’s remarks firmly to the controversy through a voiceover.
Soon after the interview was aired, people in the movement against media monopolization said that the captions accompanying the segment were also “misleading.”
To prove their point, they then uploaded a video on YouTube with a split screen comparing the translation made by CtiTV on the left-hand side with more accurate captioning on the right.
“Do they think we don’t understand English?” one person said in a Facebook post accompanying a link to the original interview.
In a brief statement on its Web site posted yesterday at about noon, CtiTV apologized for the poor translation of Chomsky’s remarks during the interview and attributed the errors to “negligence.”
It said the segment would be reviewed and improved.
Netizens immediately responded that the apology was inadequate, adding that they strongly doubted the errors were the result of negligent translation, but rather a deliberate attempt to mislead viewers.
Malaysian authorities have advised women to wear makeup, not to nag their husbands and speak with a cartoon character’s soothing voice during the virus lockdown, sparking a flood of mockery online. Like many countries, Malaysia has ordered all citizens to stay at home to stem the spread of COVID-19, which, as of yesterday, had killed at least 39,070 people globally. In a series of online posters with the hashtag #WomenPreventCOVID19, the Malaysian Ministry of Women and Family Development issued advice on how to avoid domestic conflicts during the partial lockdown, which began on March 18. One of the campaign posters depicted
KEEP AWAY: People should wear a mask in places where they cannot follow social distancing rules, the CECC said, adding that it would publish detailed guidelines today The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday announced 16 new cases of COVID-19, including two domestic cases, as it urged people to practice social distancing in public spaces by keeping a distance of at least 1m when outdoors and 1.5m indoors. Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, said that seven of the new cases tested positive upon their arrival at the airport, four were under home quarantine, one was under home isolation and two were under self-health management, while the two domestic cases sought treatment on their own. The domestic cases are a man in his
Taiwan will negotiate with the WHO about its participation without Beijing’s help and intervention as more countries, including Australia and Japan, are partnering with Taiwan to curb the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in a telephonic roundtable with reporters on Monday also supported Taiwan’s role in the WHO, saying the US Department of State would do its best to assist Taiwan’s “appropriate role” in the world’s highest health policy setting body, Voice of America reported. In a Japan Business Press report published on Sunday, Chinese Ambassador to Japan Kong Xuanyou (孔鉉佑) said
Two US senators were critical of the WHO after a senior WHO official appeared to hang up on a Hong Kong reporter who asked about Taiwan’s membership status in light of the COVID-19 outbreak. During a video interview with Radio Television Hong Kong’s Yvonne Tong (唐若韞) on Saturday, WHO Assistant Director-General Bruce Aylward first claimed not to have heard her question on whether the WHO would consider giving Taiwan membership. When Tong repeated the question, he asked her to “move on to another one.” The video then showed the line disconnecting after Tong said she would like to hear more about Taiwan.
RSS