The Government Information Office (GIO) yesterday released a statement, denying accusations made by the International Federation of Journalists’ (IFJ) that it has interfered in the nation’s state-owned media.
The GIO said in a statement that an article posted on the IFJ Web site titled IFJ Condemns Government Interference in Taiwan Media had cited “unverified information” and was an “incorrect report.” The GIO said that it has instructed Taiwan’s representative office in Australia to “clarify the facts” and “demand a correction of the misleading article.”
“Since the Chinese Nationalist Party [KMT] government took office on May 20, it has never interfered with personnel decisions at the state-owned Central News Agency [CNA], Radio Taiwan International [RTI] and Taiwan Public Television Service [PTS], their operations or news coverage by their reporters,” the GIO statement said.
The GIO issued the rebuttal in response to a statement posted by the IFJ on its Web site on Oct 9.
The IFJ said it had learned that the GIO demanded that CNA withdraw a story critical of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and altered reports about milk powder imported from China that was contaminated with melamine.
The GIO was also implicated after Cheng Yu (鄭優), the chairman of RTI, Taiwan’s state-owned broadcaster, claimed that the government had asked RTI not to broadcast reports that were too critical of China, the IFJ said.
The IFJ also criticized the KMT government for appointing Lo Chih-chiang (羅智強), a former spokesperson for Ma’s campaign, to the position of deputy president of CNA and nominating four KMT legislators to new positions on the supervisory board for PTS.
The IFJ condemned the apparent interference in state-owned media and urged government authorities to refrain from further acts that could jeopardize editorial independence.
In its rebuttal, the GIO said Lo was appointed by the board of CNA and not the GIO, adding that Cheng had expressed the intention to resign since May 20 and offered his resignation on Oct. 1.
The GIO said the IFJ’s accusation that the government had interfered in personnel decisions at PTS was not true because the four lawmakers were appointed to a commission in charge of reviewing the board members of PTS. The commission members were chosen in accordance with the percentage of seats in the legislature held by political parties and were decided by the legislature.
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