Employees from Taiwan Indigenous Peoples Television (TITV) and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Kung Wen-chi (孔文吉) of the Sediq tribe disagreed yesterday over whether the TV station should remain part of the Taiwan Broadcasting System (TBS) as the legislature reviews amendments to the Public Television Act (公共電視法).
“Of course TITV should be excluded from TBS — that’s what the law says,” Kung told the Education and Culture Committee. “If the law says so, then [the operation of TITV] should run according to the law.”
He said that according to the Creation of the Indigenous Peoples Cultural Foundation Act (原住民族文化事業基金會設置條例), passed in 2009, the foundation should be in charge of running Aboriginal media outlets.
At the moment, TITV is still part of TBS.
Indigenous Peoples Cultural Foundation chief executive Wsay Kolas supported Kung’s call.
She said that while the objective of TITV is to serve the nation’s indigenous populations, “when the TITV is under TBS, it could be forced to make some compromises.”
“If the TITV is included in TBS when the legislature amends the law, it would be hard for it to get out later,” she added.
However, TITV Employees’ Union representative Piyu Asiku Sinsing, a producer at the TV station who attended the meeting, said while he also supports TITV’s eventual separation from TBS, “it’s not time yet.”
“At the moment, while TITV is a member of TBS, it enjoys the protection of the Public Television Act, which not only gives employees a better work environment, but also provides regulations that would help to maintain the quality of programs produced by TITV,” Sinsing said during a break at the meeting. “Also, while TITV is a member of TBS, shows produced by TITV can be aired on other non-Aboriginal channels within the group, meaning a wider audience can see our programs.”
He added that he would support TITV’s separation from TBS in the future when the station is more ready to do so, and when there’s a separate law for TITV.
Unable to resolve the differences, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲), who presided over the meeting, decided that the issue would be resolved at a later date, “when the employees and Aboriginal lawmakers can reach an agreement.”
In addition to the issue concerning the status of TITV, legislators also decided to postpone decisions on whether to adopt several other clauses — such as the number of members on the board of directors and how much control the government should exercise over TBS — for later.
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