Since former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) spokesman Su Jun-pin (蘇俊賓) decided to run for a legislative seat about a month ago, hardly a day has passed without the state-owned Central News Agency (CNA) covering his campaign.
The KMT nominated Su as its legislative candidate for the fourth district in Greater Tainan against Hsu Tain-tsair (許添財) of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), who was mayor of Tainan City from 2001 to last year, before the city was merged with Tainan county and upgraded into the municipality of Greater Tainan in December last year.
From July 26 to yesterday, CNA ran a total of 35 stories about Su, often with photographs. His name appeared in the headline a total of 19 times and in seven photographs, for reports on his campaign activities, while there were a further seven other reports about his views on various political issues.
Hsu received far less news coverage from CNA and no photographs were published.
A search of the news archive at the national news agency for the same period found that Hsu’s name was mentioned in passing in only eight stories, all of which had nothing whatsoever to do with his campaign.
Of the eight stories in question, three were from the 19 news reports on Su’s campaign in which Hsu was mentioned as his chief rival, the other five were only tangentially related to his election campaign.
CNA reported on Hsu displaying his wedding photographs, talking about his feelings toward his father in a radio interview on Father’s Day, urging voters to help promote the KMT administration and when he went on the campaign trail around the constituency to tout his election policies.
This disproportionate news coverage received by one candidate over another was reminiscent of the treatment received by New Taipei City Mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫) of the KMT when running for the mayorship last year that led to CNA being ridiculed as nothing more than a “pro Chu blog.”
Asked to comment on this situation, Weber Lai (賴祥蔚), head of the graduate school of Applied Media Arts at National Taiwan University of Arts, said that an equal amount of media coverage for all candidates in an election was a principle that needed to be observed by all media outlets during an election, “particularly considering the fact that CNA is a national news agency.”
Hu Yu-wei (胡幼偉), a professor at the Graduate Institute of Mass Communication at National Taiwan Normal University, also emphasized the importance of -candidates being treated fairly in the media because that is how most people get to know the candidates and their platforms.
The inherent bias of Taiwanese media outlets as they target their own specific audience and select content favorable to specific political viewpoints is a problem not just with CNA, but almost all media in Taiwan, Hu said.
Hu called on CNA, as a national news agency, to take the lead in presenting balanced reporting on the views of legislative candidates on issues of national interest.
CNA had not yet responded to the Taipei Times’ query as of press time last night.
Aftershocks from a magnitude 6.2 earthquake that struck off Yilan County at 3:45pm yesterday could reach a magnitude of 5 to 5.5, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Seismological Center technical officer Chiu Chun-ta (邱俊達) told a news conference that the epicenter of the temblor was more than 100km from Taiwan. Although predicted to measure between magnitude 5 and 5.5, the aftershocks would reach an intensity of 1 on Taiwan’s 7-tier scale, which gauges the actual effect of an earthquake, he said. The earthquake lasted longer in Taipei because the city is in a basin, he said. The quake’s epicenter was about 128.9km east-southeast
GENSLER SURVEY: ‘Economic infrastructure is not enough. A city needs to inspire pride, offer moments of joy and foster a sense of belonging,’ the company said Taipei was named the city with the “highest staying power” in the world by US-based design and architecture firm Gensler. The Taiwanese capital earned the top spot among 65 cities across six continents with 64 percent of Taipei respondents in a survey of 33,000 people saying they wanted to stay in the city. Rounding out the top five were Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City (61 percent), Singapore (59 percent), Sydney (58 percent) and Berlin (51 percent). Sixth to 10th place went to Monterrey, Mexico; Munich, Germany; Sao Paulo, Brazil; Vancouver; and Seoul. Cities in the US were ranked separately, with Minneapolis first at
The New Taipei City Government today warned about the often-overlooked dangers of playing in water, and recommended safe swimming destinations to cool off from the summer heat. The following locations in the city as safe and fun for those looking to enjoy the water: Chienshuiwan (淺水灣), Baishawan (白沙灣), Jhongjiao Bay (中角灣), Fulong Beach Resort (福隆海水浴場) and Sansia District’s (三峽) Dabao River (大豹溪), New Taipei City Tourism and Travel Department Director-General Yang Tsung-min (楊宗珉) said. Outdoor bodies of water have variables outside of human control, such as changing currents, differing elevations and environmental hazards, all of which can lead to accidents, Yang said. Sudden
Tropical Storm Podul has formed over waters north-northeast of Guam and is expected to approach the seas southeast of Taiwan next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. The 11th Pacific storm of the year developed at 2am over waters about 2,660km east of Oluanpi (歐鑾鼻), Pingtung County — Taiwan's southernmost tip. It is projected to move westward and could have its most significant impact on Taiwan on Wednesday and Thursday next week, the CWA said. The agency did not rule out the possibility of issuing a sea warning at that time. According to the CWA's latest update, Podul is drifting west-northwest
RSS