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.
CONSOLIDATION? Taiwan Thinktank deputy executive-general Doong Sy-chi said Beijing’s intimidation tactics are further alienating those who identify as Chinese Only 2 percent of respondents to a poll on constitutional amendments and national identity identified as Chinese, while 62.6 percent identified as Taiwanese, the Taiwan Thinktank said yesterday. Legislators have proposed amendments to the Additional Articles of the Constitution (憲法增修條文), which would change the definition of the nation’s territory, remove the Taiwan Provincial Government as an entity, prioritize the use of “Taiwan” for national groups at international events, and remove restrictions on defining the national emblem, national flag and national anthem. The poll showed that 80.5 percent of respondents agreed that the nation should participate as “Taiwan” at events organized by world
NO SIGN OF WAR: Only if Taiwanese showed determination to defend the nation would others be willing to help in the event of a Chinese attack, the premier said Should China launch a war against Taiwan, the military would fight to the last standing person, Minister of National Defense Yen De-fa (嚴德發) said yesterday, adding that the nation has fully fleshed-out defense strategies. “Beijing has continued its acts of provocation against Taiwan, but there are currently no signs that it is ready to launch a full-scale war,” Yen said at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei. Asked how long Taiwan could withstand an attack from China, Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said: “Taiwan will not fall.” Any belligerent force that initiates acts of war would pay a heavy price, and so too would Beijing,
MISTAKE: The Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy is not a UN body, and the government is committed to protecting the nation’s name, Joseph Wu said The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday condemned the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy for listing Taiwanese cities as belonging to China on its Web site, and asked that it correct the error. The organization was inaugurated in Brussels in 2016 as a global coalition of mayors committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Six Taiwanese cities at the time joined the coalition as cities in “Taiwan,” the ministry said. However, officials from the Kaohsiung City Government — one of the organization’s members — last week noticed that the city was now listed on the organization’s Web site as a
MOTHERLAND? Taiwanese who take part in China’s National Day celebrations could be fined NT$100,000 to NT$500,000 if found to have contravened Taiwanese laws The Ministry of Culture yesterday cautioned China-based Taiwanese artists against breaching Taiwanese law by taking part in China’s National Day celebrations. The ministry issued the statement following media reports that Ouyang Nana (歐陽娜娜) is to sing a popular Chinese patriotic song titled My Motherland (我的祖國), and Angela Chang (張韶涵) is to sing Protect (守護) with Chinese entertainers at an event to mark China’s National Day on Thursday. The Mainland Affairs Council is investigating whether such behavior contravenes regulations in the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), the ministry said. If the behavior involves matters
RSS