Scholars and non-governmental organizations are calling on all political parties and politicians to get out of the media business.
"We urge President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) to remove political and military influence from the media. It would be a symbolic step to end the collusion between media and politics," said Peng Yun (彭芸), a journalism professor at National Chengchi University.
Currently, 47.39 percent of TTV (
At the same time, nine legislators are hosting TV or radio talk shows, and six lawmakers serve as chairmen of newspapers and TV stations, based on information released by the Taiwan Media Watch Educational Foundation.
The Alliance for the Democratization of Terrestrial TV (ADTV) has suggested the government invest more money in TTV and CTS but with the provision that the two stations be run as commercial ventures by an appointed professional manager or board of directors.
Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (
Kuo Li-hsin (郭力昕), a lecturer at the Department of Radio and Television at National Chengchi University, a member of ADTV and a board member of CTS, said that if politicians and political parties divest their interests from media organizations, Taiwanese audiences might suffer if the government doesn't come up with the proper regulations to oversee the process.
"Since there is a high possibility that political parties and politicians could become involved in media organizations in less transparent ways, the best solution would be to keep TTV and CTS intact but significantly change the way the stations are run," Kuo said.
Weng Hsiu-chi (翁秀琪) ,a professor in the Department of Journalism at National Chengchi University, echoed Kuo's remark, saying that the proposed system of managing and funding CTS and TTV is the best way to protect the two stations from commercial competition.
"The commercial market is limited in Taiwan. There are about 80 cable channels and four national networks. Most television stations have suffered as a result of increased competition because these stations have lowered their standards. If the government allows the two TV stations to become privatized, they would be just like other media organizations and at the same time suffer from a loss of quality control," Weng said.
But scholars like Peng Yun argue that audiences in Taiwan are not mature enough to accept such a system.
"Most audiences just want to be entertained after they go home. The government should not limit their choices on TV," Peng said.
Weng, however, said: "We are not talking about transferring the two stations as private TV stations. The idea of public media space establishment is to set-up a professional body to manage the two stations and produce popular shows."
The debate over the collusion of political organizations and media was introduced last week in the wake of a fight between DPP legislator Lin Chung-mo (林重謨) and independent legislator-elect Sisy Chen (陳文茜).
On Tuesday, Lin accused Chen of misusing her position as a talk show host to criticize President Chen's administration.
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