A recent survey by Shih Hsin University has given media literacy in Taiwan a minimal grade and found considerable room for improvement in the public’s ability to detect embedded advertising while also struggling to accurately judge advertisements for medicines.
This year’s score of 62.9 out of 100 was 3.4 points higher than last year’s, but with the survey’s margin of error operating a plus or minus of 3.1 percentage points, the score actually amounts to barely a passing grade, Lin Cheng-yu (林承宇), an assistant professor with the university’s School of Lifelong Learning, said on Friday.
Although media literacy education has been promoted in Taiwan, the effort has focused on schools, which has helped lead to an improvement in literacy among younger generations, but not among the general population, Lin said.
The survey found a gap in media literacy between urban and rural residents because of levels of education and access to information.
City residents tend to score higher because they have access to more information, while people in rural areas tend to follow the media “blindly,” Lin said.
Many so-called health drinks that are popular in more rural areas, for example, are advertised as products that will make people feel energized and are good for their health. In fact, they contain alcohol or drugs that should only be dispensed by licensed pharmacists, Lin said.
The Council of Labor Affairs has found that many workplace accidents were related to the consumption of these types of health drinks that contain alcohol, he said.
The public also still needs to improve its ability to identify embedded advertising, Lin said, because certain commercials are presented as talk shows, especially for dieting-related products, appearance or sexual performance enhancement.
A talk show targeted at a female audience, for example, might invite a popular makeup artist to introduce makeup products, such as BB creams where the camera will “accidentally” focus on the brand name and the show’s presenter might ask something like “where can we buy this?” Lin said.
If viewers have the ability to analyze and discern what is going on, they will understand that the program is an advertisement, Lin said. He warned people to think twice before purchasing these items.
Lin said the purpose of media literacy education is to equip the public with the ability to “make distinctions” before they are “persuaded.” This skill will help audiences understand the limitations of news reports and realize that the point of commercials is to sell products, he added.
The nationwide survey was conducted by the university’s College of Journalism and Communications from May 21 to June 18. It questioned 1,000 people on their use of the media from platforms including newspapers, magazines, radio broadcasts, TV and the Internet.
A year-long renovation of Taipei’s Bangka Park (艋舺公園) began yesterday, as city workers fenced off the site and cleared out belongings left by homeless residents who had been living there. Despite protests from displaced residents, a city official defended the government’s relocation efforts, saying transitional housing has been offered. The renovation of the park in Taipei’s Wanhua District (萬華), near Longshan Temple (龍山寺), began at 9am yesterday, as about 20 homeless people packed their belongings and left after being asked to move by city personnel. Among them was a 90-year-old woman surnamed Wang (王), who last week said that she had no plans
TO BE APPEALED: The environment ministry said coal reduction goals had to be reached within two months, which was against the principle of legitimate expectation The Taipei High Administrative Court on Thursday ruled in favor of the Taichung Environmental Protection Bureau in its administrative litigation against the Ministry of Environment for the rescission of a NT$18 million fine (US$609,570) imposed by the bureau on the Taichung Power Plant in 2019 for alleged excess coal power generation. The bureau in November 2019 revised what it said was a “slip of the pen” in the text of the operating permit granted to the plant — which is run by Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) — in October 2017. The permit originally read: “reduce coal use by 40 percent from Jan.
China might accelerate its strategic actions toward Taiwan, the South China Sea and across the first island chain, after the US officially entered a military conflict with Iran, as Beijing would perceive Washington as incapable of fighting a two-front war, a military expert said yesterday. The US’ ongoing conflict with Iran is not merely an act of retaliation or a “delaying tactic,” but a strategic military campaign aimed at dismantling Tehran’s nuclear capabilities and reshaping the regional order in the Middle East, said National Defense University distinguished adjunct lecturer Holmes Liao (廖宏祥), former McDonnell Douglas Aerospace representative in Taiwan. If
‘SPEY’ REACTION: Beijing said its Eastern Theater Command ‘organized troops to monitor and guard the entire process’ of a Taiwan Strait transit China sent 74 warplanes toward Taiwan between late Thursday and early yesterday, 61 of which crossed the median line in the Taiwan Strait. It was not clear why so many planes were scrambled, said the Ministry of National Defense, which tabulated the flights. The aircraft were sent in two separate tranches, the ministry said. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday “confirmed and welcomed” a transit by the British Royal Navy’s HMS Spey, a River-class offshore patrol vessel, through the Taiwan Strait a day earlier. The ship’s transit “once again [reaffirmed the Strait’s] status as international waters,” the foreign ministry said. “Such transits by