Government's media policy faces ghosts of the past

Following the May 20 inauguration of President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), two state-owned media companies have completed reshuffles of their top-ranking personnel and a partly state-owned third company will do so later this month.

For decades Taiwan's media, especially its broadcast media, was tightly controlled by the government, while both the government and the KMT had major stakes in most broadcasters.

The DPP was expected to reverse this once it came to power but its tackling of the problem so far has left many disappointed. Debate rages as to the extent to which the government is able to control the media and whether it should do so at all.

Personnel reshuffles

In early July, new management was installed at both the Central Broadcasting System (中央廣播電台, CBS) a radio broadcaster, and the Chinese Television System (華視, CTS). The former is entirely owned by the government while 80 percent of the latter's shares are held by the Ministry of National Defense and the Ministry of Education.

The two broadcasters, and other state-owned media, have long been criticized as propaganda tools of KMT administrations and the appointments of their top managers have often been seen less in a light of professionalism and impartiality and more as the handing out of political rewards.

The new government, unlike its KMT predecessors, has appointed some media professionals. One is a senior political columnist, Chou Tien-jui (周天瑞), who took over the chairmanship of CBS from Chu Wan-ching (朱婉清), who was believed to have landed the job because of her close relationship with then-vice president Lien Chan (連戰). Another, a senior journalist and manager of a private broadcasting station, Hsu Lu (徐璐), was chosen as vice president of CTS after the reshuffle of its board.

Since the government controlled over 50 percent of the shares of both stations, there was little resistance to changing the management.

The forthcoming reorganization at Taiwan Television Enterprise (台視, TTV), however, is more complicated.

TTV: a matter of control

The government holds only 48 percent of TTV shares, the other 52 percent belongs to KMT-invested companies, domestic and foreign corporations and individuals. As a result, the government is TTV's biggest single shareholder but it cannot carry out a reshuffle of TTV's top management by itself.

An insider, close to both the Presidential Office and TTV, has indicated to the Taipei Times that the KMT's former director of youth affairs, Lai Kuo-chou (賴國洲), also former president Lee Teng-hui's (李登輝) son-in-law, has been tipped by the Presidential Office to take over from Cheng Feng-shih (鄭逢時) as TTV's chairman. This rumor was given further weight on Thursday by the news that the Presidential Office appears determined to push for the appointment, as reported yesterday.

Yet Lai, an ex-apparatchik of the KMT would hardly seem an obvious choice for the new government as TTV's chairman.

"If the government did have other options, it would not have chosen Lai to succeed Cheng," the insider said, adding that Cheng had intended to seek another term as TTV chairman and that he might have secured the support of over 50 percent of shareholders.

For that reason, said the insider, the new government was forced to choose someone who would be acceptable to a broad cross-section of shareholders if it wanted to lever Cheng out of his post. Lai appeared as a good candidate because he would probably be able to obtain the votes of the KMT-invested companies that hold 11 percent of TTV's equity and his close connection with Lee would earn him the backing of the pro-Lee Japanese investors who own a further 20 percent.