Politicians and public servants should get out of media programming and be restricted from managing media or the producing and hosting of TV or radio programs, a media watch group yesterday said.
He Te-feng (賀德芬), president of Taiwan Media Watch Foundation (媒體觀察基金會) told a press conference at the Legislative Yuan yesterday that the tendency for public servants, election candidates elected officials to take part in media reporting or the production or hosting of TV and radio programs was "strangling the fair and detached stance that mass media is supposed to have."
He said that Taiwan's media situation had long been intertwined with political party and military interests. Of the three major terrestrial TV networks, TTV, CTV and CTS one is substantially owned by the KMT, one by the military and one by the government. All three, He said, are obviously favoring the KMT in election-related coverage, while the fourth terrestrial channel, FTV, the president of which is a member of the DPP's central standing committee, has shown a clear bias towards the DPP.
PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES
He called on politicians to respect the independence of the fourth estate, while the foundation called for a petition to force political parties and public servants out of the media.
The group wants such regulations be included in the Political Party Law (政黨法) and the Civil Servant Conflict of Interest Prevention Bill (公職人員利益衝突迴避法). A proposal to do which will be reviewed in the legislature next Friday.
The proposal would restrict public servants and election candidates from holding posts as shareholders, directors or managers of media-related enterprises or from working as producers, anchorpeople or reporters. The government and political parties would also be prevented from investing in mass media enterprises.
DPP legislators Fan Sun-lu (
Other politicians and academics were, however, less enthusiastic about such restrictions.
Chen Shei-saint (陳學聖), a KMT legislator and current spokesman for the Lien Chan (連戰)-Vincent Siew (蕭萬長) presidential campaign said there could be forces other than politics that have been influencing Taiwan's media environment. Chen himself hosts various radio and TV programs, some of which are current affairs-based. He said there were media that were driven by commercial interests, and others by religious influences, "so political restriction cannot guarantee media independence."
"I have no answer for the question, but I also look forward to new plans for establishing a bias-free media," he said.
Chen said the most effective way to do this is through individual self-discipline. "When I host a program, I will adjust my criteria to maintain balance. And if I am biased, it would be reflected by the ratings of my program."
Su Herng (
She said that although maintaining an independent, interest-free media environment is a basic premise of media reform, in reality it is almost impossible to block politicians from media intervention. A longer-term direction is to make all media, including cable TV and the Internet, more diverse and accessible, she said.
In terms of legal regulation, Su said a notion of enhancing equal rights to use the media, rather than restriction, should be focused. Studies on European and Australian media regulation have shown a mechanism could be established to enhance accessibility, she said.
NEXT GENERATION: The four plants in the Central Taiwan Science Park, designated Fab 25, would consist of four 1.4-nanometer wafer manufacturing plants, TSMC said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) plans to begin construction of four new plants later this year, with the aim to officially launch production of 2-nanometer semiconductor wafers by late 2028, Central Taiwan Science Park Bureau director-general Hsu Maw-shin (許茂新) said. Hsu made the announcement at an event on Friday evening celebrating the Central Taiwan Science Park’s 22nd anniversary. The second phase of the park’s expansion would commence with the initial construction of water detention ponds and other structures aimed at soil and water conservation, Hsu said. TSMC has officially leased the land, with the Central Taiwan Science Park having handed over the
The Philippines is working behind the scenes to enhance its defensive cooperation with Taiwan, the Washington Post said in a report published on Monday. “It would be hiding from the obvious to say that Taiwan’s security will not affect us,” Philippine Secretary of National Defense Gilbert Teodoro Jr told the paper in an interview on Thursday last week. Although there has been no formal change to the Philippines’ diplomatic stance on recognizing Taiwan, Manila is increasingly concerned about Chinese encroachment in the South China Sea, the report said. The number of Chinese vessels in the seas around the Philippines, as well as Chinese
AUKUS: The Australian Ambassador to the US said his country is working with the Pentagon and he is confident that submarine issues will be resolved Australian Ambassador to the US Kevin Rudd on Friday said that if Taiwan were to fall to China’s occupation, it would unleash China’s military capacities and capabilities more broadly. He also said his country is working with the Pentagon on the US Department of Defense’s review of the AUKUS submarine project and is confident that all issues raised will be resolved. Rudd, who served as Australian prime minister from 2007 to 2010 and for three months in 2013, made the remarks at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado and stressed the longstanding US-Australia alliance and his close relationship with the US Undersecretary
‘WORLD WAR III’: Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene said the aid would inflame tensions, but her amendment was rejected 421 votes against six The US House of Representatives on Friday passed the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for fiscal 2026, which includes US$500 million for Taiwan. The bill, which totals US$831.5 billion in discretionary spending, passed in a 221-209 vote. According to the bill, the funds for Taiwan would be administered by the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency and would remain available through Sept. 30, 2027, for the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative. The legislation authorizes the US Secretary of Defense, with the agreement of the US Secretary of State, to use the funds to assist Taiwan in procuring defense articles and services, and military training. Republican Representative
RSS