CtiTV News (中天新聞) has been fined a total of NT$1 million (US$32,409) for failing to adhere to the fact-verification mechanism stipulated in the Satellite Broadcasting Act (衛星廣播電視法), the National Communications Commission (NCC) said yesterday.
The decision to penalize the TV station was first reached by a content review committee made up of independent experts from a variety of academic backgrounds. NCC commissioners yesterday confirmed the decision at their weekly meeting.
The station on Feb. 28 broadcast a report about Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu’s (韓國瑜) visit in Singapore saying that Representative to Singapore Francis Liang (梁國新) was monitoring Han’s whereabouts and reporting them to Taipei, the commission said.
Photo: Chang Ching-ya, Taipei Times
That was a contravention of Article 27 of the act, which bans news stations from producing and broadcasting content that breaches the principle of fact verification, resulting in a NT$600,000 fine, it said.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs had issued a statement refuting the report, but the station did not issue a correction afterward, it added.
Citing the same article, the commission also fined the station NT$400,000 for airing a report on Feb. 18 saying that an “auspicious cloud” had appeared in the sky when Han, Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕) and New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) campaigned together at a rally last year.
The commission said that it had launched an administrative investigation into CtiTV’s operations following complaints from viewers, who said the station has been devoting an excessively high percentage of coverage to Han.
The results of the investigation were also deliberated by the committee, whose members ruled unanimously that CtiTV has covered and broadcast news about Han in a way that has hindered people from accessing other types of news, the commission said, adding that this exposed the station’s failure to follow its own code of conduct.
Citing Article 43 of the act, the commission said that it has ordered CtiTV to undertake several steps to improve its operations.
The station must fill senior management vacancies at its news department within one month after receiving the commission’s official ruling, the NCC said.
The station must explain when it will recruit a qualified ombudsman to oversee its operations, as it had promised to do so when renewing its license in 2015, the commission said, adding that CtiTV must also offer an official explanation of the division of labor in its news department.
CtiTV has been instructed to evaluate its operations and propose improvements, the commission said, adding that it must submit a report on those aspects within a month of receiving the ruling.
Specifically, the report must include the station’s guidelines for covering, editing and broadcasting news and commentary, as well as how it plans to adhere to the principle of fact verification, and fair and balanced news coverage, the NCC added.
A plan to provide training to employees must also be included in the report, it said.
CtiTV must review the qualifications of its ethics committee members and explain how it would implement their suggestions, the commission said, adding that if the station fails to carry out the tasks, it would receive an additional fine and be asked to remove the management of its news department.
The commission said that it analyzed the station’s news broadcasts at 1pm, 7pm and 8pm from Feb. 11 to Feb. 17, and found that on Feb. 16, coverage of Han constituted 56.7 percent of the total content, higher than any other day in the period.
On Feb. 14, 50 percent of the station’s news headlines included Han’s name, the highest in the period, it said.
Overall, Han’s name appeared in more than 30 percent of CtiTV’s evening news stories, it added.
“We are not saying that CtiTV cannot report on Han, but it must follow its code of conduct and self-discipline guidelines when covering him,” NCC spokesman Wong Po-tsung (翁柏宗) said.
CtiTV said the punishment was unacceptable and would seek administrative remedies.
CHAOS: Iranians took to the streets playing celebratory music after reports of Khamenei’s death on Saturday, while mourners also gathered in Tehran yesterday Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in a major attack on Iran launched by Israel and the US, throwing the future of the Islamic republic into doubt and raising the risk of regional instability. Iranian state television and the state-run IRNA news agency announced the 86-year-old’s death early yesterday. US President Donald Trump said it gave Iranians their “greatest chance” to “take back” their country. The announcements came after a joint US and Israeli aerial bombardment that targeted Iranian military and governmental sites. Trump said the “heavy and pinpoint bombing” would continue through the week or as long
TRUST: The KMT said it respected the US’ timing and considerations, and hoped it would continue to honor its commitments to helping Taiwan bolster its defenses and deterrence US President Donald Trump is delaying a multibillion-dollar arms sale to Taiwan to ensure his visit to Beijing is successful, a New York Times report said. The weapons sales package has stalled in the US Department of State, the report said, citing US officials it did not identify. The White House has told agencies not to push forward ahead of Trump’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), it said. The two last month held a phone call to discuss trade and geopolitical flashpoints ahead of the summit. Xi raised the Taiwan issue and urged the US to handle arms sales to
State-run CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) yesterday said that it had confirmed on Saturday night with its liquefied natural gas (LNG) and crude oil suppliers that shipments are proceeding as scheduled and that domestic supplies remain unaffected. The CPC yesterday announced the gasoline and diesel prices will rise by NT$0.2 and NT$0.4 per liter, respectively, starting Monday, citing Middle East tensions and blizzards in the eastern United States. CPC also iterated it has been reducing the proportion of crude oil imports from the Middle East and diversifying its supply sources in the past few years in response to geopolitical risks, expanding
Pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai’s (黎智英) fraud conviction and prison sentence were yesterday overturned by a Hong Kong court, in a surprise legal decision that comes soon after Lai was jailed for 20 years on a separate national security charge. Judges Jeremy Poon (潘兆初), Anthea Pang (彭寶琴) and Derek Pang (彭偉昌) said in the judgement that they allowed the appeal from Lai, and another defendant in the case, to proceed, as a lower court judge had “erred.” “The Court of Appeal gave them leave to appeal against their conviction, allowed their appeals, quashed the convictions and set aside the sentences,” the judges
RSS