Group blasts lack of media reform

The Campaign for TV Democracy(無線電視民主化聯盟) used the 40th anniversary of the introduction of TV to Taiwan yesterday to condemn President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) for failing to follow through on promised media reform.

Three members of the campaign, which drafted Chen's 2000 Mass Media White Paper during his presidential campaign, also resigned from their positions on the boards of Chinese Television System (CTS) and Taiwan Television (TTV) in protest. They had been appointed by the government to assist with the stations' transitions under proposed reforms shortly after the DPP came to power.

The group, comprising 15 professors of communications and journalism, was founded in 2000 to promote media reform and was active in Chen's presidential bid.

It has since led the campaign for media reform, vigorously lobbying legislators and keeping the call for reform in the public eye.

"We condemn President Chen and the Executive Yuan's equivocation on their own promises. We protest against the government's vacillating attitude over the issue, and urge it to introduce an immediate timetable for media reform," a press release distributed by the campaign stated.

The issue of how to handle the two TV channels in which the government owns shares has been the subject of much controversy.

Government ownership

The Campaign has urged the government to acquire 100 percent ownership of TTV, in which it is currently the largest shareholder with a 47.39 percent stake, and CTS (of which it currently owns 74.95 percent).

The group says the government should allow the stations to operate as advertiser-supported channels without government editorial interference.

The group maintains the move would allow the two stations to thrive while providing quality public service broadcasting without having to be preoccupied by market forces and free competition.

Opposition legislators, however, insist that the government sell all its shares in TTV and CTS. They argue that the Campaign's proposal would be a financial liability to the government and make for more, not less, political interference in the stations' content.

Former director-general of the Government Information Office (GIO's), Su Tzen-ping (蘇正平), had actively promoted the group's idea and pushed an amendment to Article 5 of the Broadcasting and Television Law (廣播電視法), requiring that the two stations' shareholders sell their shares to the government. But the amendment was not reviewed before the last legislative term ended on Jan 18.

Then, following a government reshuffle at the start of the new legislative term in February, Arthur Iap (葉國興), the GIO's new director general, postponed the resubmission of the amendment, saying that funds for a government takeover would be difficult to come by and that more research was required on the proposal.

"We need more evaluation on both proposals dealing with the two stations' future," Iap reiterated yesterday.

The campaign's executive director, Feng Chien-san (馮建三), however, complained they had already been waiting for a decision on the matter for about 10 days.

Waiting game

"Iap just hasn't done anything," Feng said.

DPP legislator Luo Wen-jia (羅文嘉), who submitted a separate proposal consistent with the Campaign's idea in the last legislative session, said the DPP planned a legislative committee review of his proposal in coming weeks. If passed by the committee, the proposal would progress to its second reading by a full session of the Legislative Yuan.