"If you call him names and say he is shameless, he would complacently reply `I am shameless. What can you do to me?'"
Recently the viewing rate of the variety shows that Wu hosts have displayed a marked decline. Two weeks ago the viewing rate of his Saturday prime-time show had fallen to third place out of the four shows broadcasted in the same time slot by Taiwan's terrestrial television stations.
Last week he filmed a former porn star entering his apartment at midnight and then sent the videotape to Next magazine. As expected, the videotape became the magazine's cover story for that week. Then -- in his show last Saturday night -- Wu publicly announced how he had contrived the false incident and declared victory in this battle against "the Hong Kong-style paparazzi." Needless to say ratings for his show were much higher that weekend.
Media critics say that it is ironic that someone whose own morality has been harshly criticized and who has a record of manipulating the media, can now launch an attack on an "immoral" media grouping.
"With his career in a downturn, Wu has once again successfully used the media. He says he wants to fight against the paparazzi, but apparently he and the paparazzi magazine have to coexist with each other like fish and water and cannot live and thrive without each other. And I don't see what his latest move has to do with the media raising its self-discipline and moral standards," said Professor Hu.
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