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TVBS protest sparks political tug of war

A pro-independence group yesterday asked President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) to apologize for his pledge to keep TVBS alive, demanding its closure following the station's mishandling of a gangster footage.

Calling TVBS a "gangster station," Peter Wang (王獻極), leader of the 908 Taiwan Republic Campaign, condemned Chen's promise and said that Chen was the "initiator of the evil matter."

When former Government Information Office (GIO) head Pasuya Yao (姚文智) wanted to close down TVBS last year because of its questionable ownership structure, Wang said Yao's proposal fell apart when Chen promised shortly after that he would never shut down any media outlet during his term.

"That pledge led to the controversy now," Wang said.

While the station should be partially to blame for causing social unrest, Wang said the main culprit was Chen, who should shoulder most of the responsibility.

TVBS and TVBS-N was each penalized NT$1 million (US$30,200) for mishandling the gangster footage that was broadcast last week.

The stations aired footage of a gangster threatening to kill his estranged gang boss.

At the time, TVBS said the gangster had sent the video to the station.

However, it turned out that the video footage televised by nearly all thenews channels had been fabricated by the station.

Its Nantou reporter Shih Chen-kang (史鎮康), who filmed the video, was fired as well as his superior, chief correspondent Chang Yu-kun (張裕坤).

TVBS news director Pan Tzu-yin (潘祖蔭) and vice news director Sun Chia-juei (孫嘉蕊) were removed from the station's news department and general manager of TVBS News Lee Tao (李濤) later stepped down after the National Communications Commission (NCC) asked the stations to replace the company's general manager and deputy general manager as an act to illustrate their share of responsibility.

Although Li Siduan (李四端) will carry on as the station's deputy general manager, he will no longer host or anchor any programs.

In a bid to express their dissatisfaction with TVBS, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus led a demonstration outside the TVBS' Tapie station yesterday afternoon.

The DPP caucus mobilized some 1,000 supporters, who took 60 tour buses from southern Taiwan, to protest outside TVBS headquarters on Bade Road in Taipei.

The protesters urged the station to shut down as a way to apologize to duck farmers whose incomes might have been hurt by a false TVBS report.

The protesters were referring to a story broadcast by the station last December claimed some restaurants selling duck meals applied tar during the cooking process to remove feathers.

The story proved to be a false.

But the station only showed its regret by running some positive reports about ginger duck soup with Chinese herbs (薑母鴨) instead of compensating the duck farmers or restaurants that serve duck dishes.

Some 300 police officers were called in to prevent demonstrators from rushing into the station, but no serious injuries were reported.

Earlier yesterday, DPP caucus whip Wang Sing-nan (王幸男) said the caucus was going to offer free legal assistance to duck farmers who would like to sue TVBS for their loss.

In related news, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers yesterday called on the Taiwan Advertisers' Association not to launch a boycott by removing commercials from TVBS News.

The Association issued a statement on Tuesday asking advertisers nationwide remove commercials from TVBS News for a week to show their disapproval.

"The boycott is a way to suppress freedom of speech. We hope the association will be careful not to become an accomplice of the pan-green camp," KMT Legislative caucus whip Hsu Shao-ping (徐少萍) told a press conference.

KMT Legislator Alex Fai (費鴻泰), who was also present at the press conference, said the party might stage a boycott on purchasing products from enterprises that decide to remove commercials from TVBS.

Additional reporting by Shih Hsiu-chuan
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