Fearing the approval of an application by Want Want China Times Group to purchase China Network Systems would turn the former into a “media monster” monopoly, academics held a press conference yesterday to urge the National Communications Commission (NCC) to block the acquisition.
On the eve of the second public hearing for the merger review today, academics said an Internet petition against the merger initiated by 54 academics had received the support of 78 civic groups and 2,136 individuals over six days.
Want Want China Broadband already has major newspapers, magazines, publishing firms and cable and wireless TV news channels, National Taiwan University associate professor Hung Chen-ling (洪貞玲) said, adding that if the merger with CNS was approved, a multiple system operator that operates 11 cable TV and broadband Internet services would account for about 30 percent of the total media audience in Taiwan.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
Hung said academics feared the NT$70 billion (US$2.3 billion) merger attempt by the group — which has a track record of “bad behavior” for accusing NCC commissioners in its newspaper and filing suits on reporters — risked leading to high media concentration, harming freedom of the press.
Shih Jun-ji (施俊吉), a research fellow at Academia Sinica’s Institute of Social Science, said it made no sense to continue the review when three of the seven review committee members had already walked out.
“With only four members left, the committee is not competent to review this important case,” Shih said.
The academics urged the commission to stop the review process and establish an ad hoc committee including citizen representatives and specialists from various fields to investigate the case.
Hu Yuan-hui (胡元輝), an associate professor at National Chung Cheng University’s department of communications and president of the Foundation for Excellent Journalism, said that many studies showed that high media concentration undermines the quality of the media environment, not only in terms of lack of content diversity but also independence and the labor conditions of journalists.
Lin Yuan-huei (林元輝), a professor at National Chengchi University’s department of journalism, said studies have shown that the China Times has provided much more entertainment news about Want Want group’s cable channels since the last merger.
The academics said they also feared that with a large proportion of Want Want Group chairman Tsai Eng-ming’s (蔡衍明) profits being made in China, there was reason to suspect that messages favorable toward the Chinese government would affect media content in Taiwan.
“Having control over the channels also means control over their content,” Shih said, adding that the merger could affect as many as 4 million viewers if it were allowed to proceed.
Some academics also expressed support for the media to monitor government officials and political figures to protect the public interest. They criticized Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus whip Hsieh Kuo-liang’s (謝國樑) lawsuit against Internet news source New Talk reporter Lin Chau-yi (林朝億) for reporting that Hsieh had tried to pressure the commission into approving the merger.
Association of Taiwan Journalists executive committee member Liu Ming-tang (劉明堂) said it was improper for legislators to file lawsuits against ordinary citizens to express their discontent.
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday said it opposes the introduction of migrant workers from India until a mechanism is in place to prevent workers from absconding. Minister of Labor Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) on Thursday told the Legislative Yuan that the first group of migrant workers from India could be introduced as early as this year, as part of a government program. The caucus’ opposition to the policy is based on the assessment that “the risk is too high,” KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) said. Taiwan has a serious and long-standing problem of migrant workers absconding from their contracts, indicating that
SPACE VETERAN: Kjell N. Lindgren, who helps lead NASA’s human spaceflight missions, has been on two expeditions on the ISS and has spent 311 days in space Taiwan-born US astronaut Kjell N. Lindgren is to visit Taiwan to promote technological partnerships through one of the programs organized by the US for its 250th national anniversary. Lindgren would be in Taiwan from Tuesday to Saturday next week as part of the US Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ US Speaker Program, organized to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a statement yesterday. Lindgren plans to engage with key leaders across the nation “to advance cutting-edge technological partnerships and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers,”
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