Close to 90 percent of the public is in favor of requiring newspapers to establish a set of self--regulatory measures for their reporting on subjects such as violent crime, suicides, drugs, sex and other “sensational” news, a poll showed yesterday.
Amid controversy over whether the Children and Youth Welfare Act (兒童及少年福利法) should be revised to impose restrictions on newspapers’ ability to provide details on violent crimes, suicides, drug use and sex crimes — seen by many as possibly detrimental to the mental health of children and young adults — the poll, conducted by the Ministry of the Interior, showed that close to 90 percent of respondents supported newspapers creating and maintaining their own regulatory measures on the part of newspapers.
Respondents also said the government should intervene only when newspapers fail to abide by those measures, the ministry said in a press release.
“In addition, 86 percent of respondents agreed that newspaper reports that provide too much detail on violent and sex crimes, suicides and drug abuse, which would have a negative impact on children’s and young adults’ mental heath,” the press release said, adding that as many as 70 percent of respondents agree that “newspapers are giving too much detail on such crimes.”
The poll was conducted last week with more than 1,000 valid samples randomly collected across the country.
Lawmakers have proposed amendments to the law that would implement stricter measures on reporting sensational news because some newspapers have been accused of describing certain crimes in too much detail.
However, the proposal triggered controversy over whether such regulations would interfere with the freedom of the press.
The ministry has proposed a compromise, whereby newspapers would be asked to create their own disciplinary standards.
Newspapers have been specifically targeted for the proposal because content regulations for TV and radio outlets already exist.
“Self-disciplinary measures are needed for newspapers because we’ve received too many complaints from the public about inappropriate content,” Minister of the Interior Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) told a press conference.
“We will deliver draft amendments [to the act] to newspapers and children’s welfare groups for further discussion on Monday [today,]” he said.
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