Analysts see more media lawsuits

Although opposition politicians have criticized Kaohsiung Mayor Frank Hsieh's (謝長廷) decision to sue a newspaper for libel as endangering the freedom of the media, academics and industry professionals predict that lawsuits between politicians and the media will become increasingly common.

Hsieh announced his decision to file a lawsuit against the United Daily News, a pro-China newspaper, after the daily's editorial last Wednesday alleged Hsieh was involved in the high-profile bribery scandal involving Kaohsiung City Council's speaker and vice speaker.

While politicians usually seek apologies when they feel they have been defamed by the media, Hsieh demanded NT$1 billion in compensation from the daily and said that he was prepared to fight for 10 years to win.

"In a country governed by the rule of law, anybody, including politicians, has the right to file a lawsuit to protect his or her interests," said Hu Yu-wei (胡幼偉), a professor at National Taiwan Normal University's Graduate Institute of Mass Communications.

Lawsuits filed by politicians against the media will become common in the future as the legal system "matures," Hu said.

Shortly after Hsieh's announcement, independent Legislator Sisy Chen (陳文茜) and another Chinese-language paper, the Taiwan Daily News, said they would sue each other for libel.

But some commentators believe these politicians will have a tough time winning their cases.

In 2000, the Council of Grand Justices issued Interpretation No. 509, which lightens the burden of proof on the defendant in defamation cases. The interpretation says that the media cannot be punished for reports that they have sufficient reason to believe to be true.

Lin Feng-jeng (林峰正), former president of the Taiwan Association for Human Rights and a lawyer, said that both the newspaper and Hsieh will have difficulty making their case in that case.

The mayor has to prove that the daily's accusation was wrong and that it intended to damage his reputation, Lin said.

Chin Heng-wei (金恆煒), editor in chief of Contemporary Monthly magazine, however, argued that Hsieh might be in with a chance.

"Political analysis should be based on reality. Writing a political analysis that is not based on reality conflicts with the media's professionalism," Chin said.

Chin said that the daily should have been able to prove Hsieh's involvement in the Kaohsiung City Council scandal when it made its accusation against him. The Kao-hsiung Prosecutors' office has said that Hsieh is not a suspect.

Since the DPP came to power, litigation between politicians and the media has increased sharply.

In December, President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) dropped his threat to file a libel suit against the China Times after the daily apologized for a front-page story that suggested the president received a NT$4.5 million donation from Zanadau Development majority shareholder Su Hui-chen (蘇惠珍) for his 1994 Taipei mayoral campaign.

In October, the then acting Department of Health head Twu Shiing-jer (涂醒哲) threatened to file a lawsuit against the United Daily News, Next magazine and the TVBS news program Night Club for mistakenly identifying him as the man who licked the ear of a dumpling seller at a karaoke parlor.

Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) filed a libel suit against The Journalist in 2001, and eventually won, after the magazine said she had claimed that the president was having an affair.