Five years can be both a short time and a long time. It is surprising, in a way, to realize that the Taipei Times has been in publication for only five years. It seems that it has been around much longer, providing news and commentary concerning political and social trends in Taiwan. As the nation's political mainstream has shifted, the Taipei Times has become an increasingly valuable resource for outsiders. Its Internet availability only enhances its value.
And yet it has been only five years -- five eventful years, to be sure -- since Lin Rong San (
A good democracy cannot exist and survive without a good mass media. Print and broadcast journalism provide checks and balances to the activities of the state and of political leaders. Taiwan in particular requires an effective mass media because it faces profound choices: how to cope with the political and military challenge of China; how to build a competitive economy; and so on. These are choices that cannot be ignored. To not make a choice is to choose. Whatever the choice, it must not be made in ignorance. And it is here that organizations like the Taipei Times play a critical role.
What is important here is not the balance sheet of individual media organizations or whether their activities benefit the power of certain parties or political leaders. It is rather whether journalism helps the people ensure that their will is clearly reflected through the political system. It is the people, not shareholders or politicians, who are the core constituency of the media. Indeed, the Western metaphor for the media, "tribune of the people," refers to a Roman official whose duty was to represent the interests of the common people vis-a-vis the elite.
All democratic systems, even mature ones, distort the popular will to some extent -- through the role of money, for example, or the imperfections of institutions. The goal should be to reduce that distortion to a minimum. Doing so is particularly important in Taiwan, where the stakes -- the long-term future of 23 million people -- are high.
The mass media has two important roles to play in this regard. On the one hand, the media should provide the information that the public needs to understand the environment and issues that its political leaders and institutions face. But if the mass media ignore those topics and focus on the irrelevant or the sensational, the people suffer. And if the media provides information in an unprofessional or biased way, the people also suffer. If, for example, Taiwan's newspapers and TV stations either inaccurately exaggerate or minimize the military threat posed by China, how can the public judge the proper level of defense spending?
On the other hand, the mass media can provide a forum for the adherents of contending political stances to debate their policy proposals. It is through informed and substantive debate that the people come to understand the pros and cons of competing proposals. To continue the example above, when military experts debate what it is about China's military build-up that threatens Taiwan, the public benefits.
Because the media should safeguard the interests of all the people and not just one faction, it is important that individual organizations fairly represent views that are at odds with its own editorial line. Indeed, one test of whether a media organization stands for the interests of the people as a whole is whether it is prepared, when necessary, to criticize the political party or leaders whose views are closest to its own.
Some leading American newspapers have taken special measures in order to ensure professionalism, objectivity and fairness. They have appointed ombudsmen within the organization, to whom readers can complain about biased or sloppy coverage. They have hired as columnists individuals whose views are contrary to the paper's editorial line, to better foster debate among rival views.
Over the past five years, the Taipei Times has sought to follow the fundamental principal of the Liberty Times Group: "Taiwan First, Liberty Foremost." During that period, it has assumed an important position in Taiwan's media system and made a contribution to overseas understanding of Taiwan.
As the people of Taiwan face fundamental challenges in the future, the role and responsibility of the Taipei Times as the Taiwan people's tribune will only grow in importance.
Richard Bush is a former chairman of the American Institute in Taiwan.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique