The People First Party's legislative caucus moved to separate the control of the media by political parties by forming an alliance for media development yesterday.
The action came one day after the party's proposal for an amendment to the Broadcasting and Television Law failed to qualify for review in the Legislative Yuan due to the lack of a quorum.
The launch of the Media Development Rainbow Alliance was organized by PFP legislators and founded by 19 well-known politicians, communication scholars and media professionals.
Among the founders are KMT spokesman Justin Chou (
The legislators emphasized that the purpose of the alliance would be to help Taiwan's media to develop and avoid political entanglements.
"We hope that Taiwan's media will be wide-ranging, colorful, full of imagination and professional just like this alliance's name, `rainbow,'" said PFP legislator Diane Lee (李慶安).
The first goal of the alliance is to pressure party leaders and President Chen Shui-bian (
"We will lobby all political leaders to sign this covenant. If they don't, we'll ask them to explain themselves," said Chang Hsien-yao (張顯耀), director of the PFP's Center for Policy Research.
The alliance said it will continue to push for an amendment to the Broadcasting and Television Law to force the government to sell its shares in Taiwan Television (TTV) and CTS (Chinese Television System).
It is also calling for an amendment of the Political Parties Law to prevent political figures from managing and owning media outlets.
The last goal of the alliance is to establish a national communication development council to oversee the nation's media and assist in its development.
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