Legislators want an independent media

Opposition legislators said yesterday that the government's avowed aim to foster the editorial independence of Taiwan's media will only benefit the DPP if it moves, as it promised yesterday, to eliminate KMT and PFP influence.

Su Tzen-ping (蘇正平), director-general of the Government Information Office told the Legislative Yuan yesterday morning that "the first step to push the media toward neutrality is to end their [the KMT's and PFP's] influence."

"It is impossible to reverse the problems of the media in the short-term because of decades of KMT influence. Our first step will be to establish a monitoring system to ensure that ownership and management are separated. The system will prevent inappropriate political involvement within the media," Su said.

Currently, 47.39 percent of TTV's (台視) shares and 74.95 percent of those of CTS (華視) are held by the government. The KMT owns 35.59 percent of CTV's (中視) shares, while the boards of Formosa TV (民視) and Global TV (環球電視) are both chaired by DPP lawmakers.

CTV is often accused of a heavy pro-KMT bias, while Formosa and Global are often accused of pro-DPP bias.

The government's stakes in TTV and CTS long predates the DPP government. TTV was founded in 1962 and CTS in 1972, both with investment from the then KMT government.

Su reiterated yesterday his remarks of last Thursday that the government would not sell its shares in TTV or CTS, adding, "It would not be helpful in the current media environment to completely privatize the two stations."

The Alliance for the Democratization of Terrestrial TV (ADTV) has urged that the government acquire 100 percent ownership of TTV and CTS, and allow them to operate as advertiser supported television channels without government editorial meddling.

Su said that "personally" he supports ADTV's proposal.

Legislators, however, complained that the elimination of KMT and PFP influence from the media simply amounts to increasing the DPP's influence over the media. They also said that the ADTV proposal would just extend the government's financial liabilities.

"The DPP government's excuse for not selling its TTV and CTS shares, saying that it wishes to separate ownership from management, is exactly the same as that which the KMT used to offer," said KMT lawmaker Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱).

If we look at it from another perspective, the government simply wants to extend the DPP's influence over the media by sending in its own people," he said.

PFP legislator Diane Lee(李慶安) echoed Hung's remarks, saying "President Chen Shui-bain (陳水扁) and DPP Chairman Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) used to insist that the government sell its shares in TV stations before the DPP became the ruling party, but they have changed their attitude by offering this new explanation now that the DPP is in power."

Kuo Li-hsin (郭力昕), a lecturer in the Department of Radio and Television at National Chengchi University and an ADTV member and CTS board member, said that legislators were opposing the reform group's idea before it had been properly debated.

"The method for transferring the two TV stations to state ownership is still under discussion. I don't understand how and why these opposition legislators can oppose an undiscussed proposal," Kuo said.