Nearly 200 journalists have signed a petition against a decision by the Taipei City Police Department to designate press zones during demonstrations to “protect” reporters.
The police department announced on Thursday that it plans to designate a “petition zone” and a “press zone” during rallies, and that in cases of “illegal demonstrations,” it would ask reporters to stay in the press zone for their safety and to prevent them from getting in the way when police try to disperse the crowd.
Although the police department said it made the decision after discussing it with several media organizations — including the Association of Taiwan Journalists, the Taipei Documentary Filmmakers’ Union and the Taipei Foreign Correspondents’ Club — the announcement met with strong opposition from reporters, who accused the department of restricting press freedom.
Photo: Liu Ching-hou, Taipei Times
“This is a serious deprivation of the freedom of the press,” Lu Yi-jung (呂苡榕), a reporter with the Chinese-language magazine The Journalist, told the Taipei Times. “How the news is presented to readers, from which angle and where the reporter would like to stand on the scene should be decided by the reporter.”
“If reporters have to stay in a press zone designated by the police, why don’t we just file news stories according to the police press release and have the police provide us news photos?” Lu added.
Reporters serve as the link between a news event and the audience, and they strive not only to record what is happening, but also to take the audience to the news scene, Lu said.
“Recording what happened allows the public to make their own judgement on what to hate, what to love and how to think,” Lu said. “Restricting freedom of the press is no different from fooling the public.”
Hsu Chun-feng (許純鳳), a member of the production team of a Public Television Service news commentary show, agreed, saying that the decision is a repression of the freedom of the press.
“If reporters cannot walk around freely, how can they get a full picture of what is going on?” she asked.
“In my experience, most reporters would not interfere with police actions. We respect officers who are doing their job and they should give equal respect to reporters who are also at work,” she said.
At press time last night, 198 people — 90 percent of whom are journalists and including one police officer — had signed a petition against the police department’s decision.
Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) was not available for comment, but his assistant, Hung Chih-kun (洪智坤), said that the city government was shocked when it saw the news on Thursday night.
Hung added that the Ko administration did not initiate the policy.
The decision was made by Taipei Police Commissioner Huang Sheng-yung (黃昇勇), who is to retire in two weeks.
“Our core value is to protect the public right to petition and protest, as well as freedom of the press. We will not take the lead in undermining such values, Hung said. “We need more public discussions about the issue and to hear what the new police commissioner has to say about it.”
LONG FLIGHT: The jets would be flown by US pilots, with Taiwanese copilots in the two-seat F-16D variant to help familiarize them with the aircraft, the source said The US is expected to fly 10 Lockheed Martin F-16C/D Block 70/72 jets to Taiwan over the coming months to fulfill a long-awaited order of 66 aircraft, a defense official said yesterday. Word that the first batch of the jets would be delivered soon was welcome news to Taiwan, which has become concerned about delays in the delivery of US arms amid rising military tensions with China. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said the initial tranche of the nation’s F-16s are rolling off assembly lines in the US and would be flown under their own power to Taiwan by way
‘OF COURSE A COUNTRY’: The president outlined that Taiwan has all the necessary features of a nation, including citizens, land, government and sovereignty President William Lai (賴清德) discussed the meaning of “nation” during a speech in New Taipei City last night, emphasizing that Taiwan is a country as he condemned China’s misinterpretation of UN Resolution 2758. The speech was the first in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. It is the responsibility of Taiwanese citizens to stand united to defend their national sovereignty, democracy, liberty, way of life and the future of the next generation, Lai said. This is the most important legacy the people of this era could pass on to future generations, he said. Lai went on to discuss
OBJECTS AT SEA: Satellites with synthetic-aperture radar could aid in the detection of small Chinese boats attempting to illegally enter Taiwan, the space agency head said Taiwan aims to send the nation’s first low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite into space in 2027, while the first Formosat-8 and Formosat-9 spacecraft are to be launched in October and 2028 respectively, the National Science and Technology Council said yesterday. The council laid out its space development plan in a report reviewed by members of the legislature’s Education and Culture Committee. Six LEO satellites would be produced in the initial phase, with the first one, the B5G-1A, scheduled to be launched in 2027, the council said in the report. Regarding the second satellite, the B5G-1B, the government plans to work with private contractors
MISSION: The Indo-Pacific region is ‘the priority theater,’ where the task of deterrence extends across the entire region, including Taiwan, the US Pacific Fleet commander said The US Navy’s “mission of deterrence” in the Indo-Pacific theater applies to Taiwan, Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Stephen Koehler told the South China Sea Conference on Tuesday. The conference, organized by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), is an international platform for senior officials and experts from countries with security interests in the region. “The Pacific Fleet’s mission is to deter aggression across the Western Pacific, together with our allies and partners, and to prevail in combat if necessary, Koehler said in the event’s keynote speech. “That mission of deterrence applies regionwide — including the South China Sea and Taiwan,” he
RSS