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FEATURE: Sex workshop turns the spotlight on role of the media

A couple speaks to the media yesterday about their experience at a sex therapy workshop held at a love hotel over the weekend. PHOTO: LI YING, TAIPEI TIMES

Room 201 of Yonghe's discreet and romantic Imore Motel might seem like an unlikely site for a news conference, but on Saturday the room was crammed with reporters and cameramen eager to learn more about the controversial two-day-and-one-night sex therapy workshop held at the love motel.

Although the course generated enormous media attention and participating couples said they had gained from it, health specialists criticized the event as overly commercialized and sensationalistic.

The workshop was co-sponsored by the drug company Eli Lilly. A stack of Eli Lilly's erectile dysfunction drug Cialis appeared amid a display of items such as scented candles and dildos.

The participating couples and participants at the press conference all wore polo shirts emblazoned with the Cialis logo.

"After the kids came along, our sex life completely stalled," said a 39-year-old participant who wished only to be identified as Mrs Lee (李).

"It doesn't help that I work until 2am or 3am most days," the 34-year-old Mr Lee said.

Their children, aged three and five, still sleep in the marital bed, the couple told the Taipei Times, making romance difficult.

"We are down to making love only once every two or three months," Mr Lee said. "When we do have time away from the kids, we're too tired or busy with other things to think about sex."

Despite the fact that the couple named lack of time and privacy as the major factors behind their flagging sex life, staffers at the press conference told Mr Lee and another participant, Mr He, to take a Cialis pill in front of the cameras.

"The fact that the Cialis logo is clearly visible in news photos and TV footage is blatant product placement," said Lyu Shu-yu (呂淑妤), associate professor at Taipei Medical University's school of public health. "Unfortunately, this is not uncommon [in] medical news."

The workshop was covered by many local newspapers.

The Chinese-language China Times devoted its entire third page to stories and photos about the event.

Calling for more restraint from pharmaceutical companies and the media, Lyu described the workshop as "performance" rather than medical education.

"The media plays an important role conveying unfamiliar medical vocabulary and concepts," she said. "However, a lot of medical news coverage is overly sensational, misleading, shallow and commercialized."

The common practice of pharmaceutical companies or clinics holding sensational or lavish press conferences to showcase their products is worrying, she said.

"I remember a news conference held by a drug company that I attended as a guest. It was held at the Formosa Regent. The buffet alone probably cost more than NT$1,000 a head," Lyu said. "And all the reporters received a goodie bag."

"It's hard to quantify the effect these favors have on people," she said. "But a lot of newspapers wrote about the drug the following day."

In addition to the treats, news conferences sponsored by interested parties also provide reporters with accessible sources such as doctors, patients and photo opportunities.

"The danger is that reporters rely too much on the sources provided by pharmaceutical companies and don't independently confirm what is being said," Lyu said. "This is especially true if the source is a doctor at a famous hospital."

Lyu urged the media to work toward finding a better balance.

"Unlike ads, people assume that news reports are neutral and authoritative, making media coverage enormously influential," Lyu said. "This is why it is very important that the media not be used by interested parties such as clinics and drug companies."
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