Wed, May 06, 2009 - Page 3 News List

Group monitoring Taiwan press

TRUTH SEEKERS The Asia research head for Freedom House said Taiwan’s press had become more polarized and as a result it was harder to find accurate information

By William Lowther  /  STAFF REPORTER IN WASHINGTON

In addition, she said, there had been a tendency for the media to move towards sensationalism and focus on political scandals or crimes.

“On the other hand,” she said, “there was a lot of diversity of view even if you had to watch two different TV stations to get a balanced story.”

She said that Freedom House had heard stories of tourists from China rushing back to their hotel rooms at night to watch the talk shows because they were so amazed at the freedom of expression.

Freedom House was concerned at the Chinese-language daily China Times being sold to Tsai Eng-meng (蔡衍明), chairman of the food group Want Want.

They fear that because he has extensive business interests in China, he may come under pressure from Beijing to censor stories critical of China or to use stories that promote Chinese policy.

Also See: Freedom of the press takes a step backward

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