Calling for higher-quality news coverage, media representatives yesterday decried the rumor-based reporting methods that have recently become more common, especially allegations made against government officials without solid proof.
Connie Lin (
Politicians have taken a liking to "soap opera" style revelations, feeding information to reporters whenever they want and reminding the public to wait for the next "episode" or disclosure, Lin said.
The media has become a tool of these politicians, she said.
Chuan Po-chung (
"Some `scandal revealers' can be trusted while many others cannot. The media must be able to tell the difference," Chuan said.
Information from a text message or an anonymous tipster is not always accurate, he said, and if such rumors are reported, the media's job is to do a thorough follow-up to see if the rumors are true or false.
Lu Shih-hsiang (
"When one dog barks, all the others bark too, without knowing the reason," Lu said.
"It's unbelievably basic, but the media forgets that they cannot `bark' without knowing the evidence," he said.
The media should refuse to become rumormongers, Lu said.
Political commentator Chien Yu-yen (
"It's not that we reporters don't have consciences," Chien said. "The whole system is problematic. We have to report scandalous rumors because if we don't, our jobs are on the line."
Yu Ying-fu (尤英夫), an attorney specializing in media law, reminded journalists that people targeted by rumors or caught up in scandals are "innocent till proven guilty."
"The media cannot presuppose that they know everything and that they can reach the verdict on their own," Yu said.
Yu said that according to Article 23 of the Broadcasting and Television Law (廣電法), if a person feels that a television station broadcast erroneous information about them, they are entitled to an opportunity to clarify and defend themselves on the same station within 15 days.
A TV station has to respond to the person's request for clarification and defense within seven days.
However, Yu said, he urges victims to sue because the law is on their side.
Lin said the media should apologize after false information has been reported and that it should remember the social responsibilities it has.
"The media needs to remember to do reports based on evidence, not guesswork," she said.
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
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