National Communications Commission (NCC) Chairperson Howard Shyr (石世豪) yesterday denied that the proposed media anti-monopolization act was designed to protect specific media groups, adding that it was not meant to replace the abolished Publication Act (出版法).
Shyr’s statement came after Want Want China Times Group published a full-page advertisement on page one of the Chinese-language China Times, which is part of the Want China Times Group, alleging that the proposed legislation favors large media groups such as Liberty Times Group (owner of the Taipei Times) and Fubon Group.
The ad said the proposed act was aimed at preventing Want Want China Times from acquiring the cable TV systems owned by China Network Systems or investing in Next Media Group.
“The act was produced under false pretenses,” Want Want said in the ad. “It expands the authority of the National Communications Commission and intends to ‘restore’ the Publication Act, which would allow the government to oppress and restrict freedom of speech.”
Want Want said the proposed act, if passed, should be applied retrospectively, adding that it should also ban financial groups from investing in media outlets and apply to broadcasting media, as well as telecoms and Internet service providers.
Shyr said the commission had not tailored the proposed act to fit the needs of any specific groups.
Nor was the version of the act that has passed preliminary review at the legislature designed to target any group or allow any group to evade its responsibility to follow regulations, he said.
“There are different ways to express opinions, but rarely do I see a media group publishing its opinions using such a large font. The phenomenon has appeared in all the newspapers in this media group,” Shyr said.
“We respect different opinions, but we believe that the newspapers should act as watchmen for the public. At least that is what I taught my journalism students,” he said.
Shyr said there was no intent to resurrect the Publication Act, adding that he took issue with Want Want’s use of the word “restoring” (復辟) in expressing its opinion.
“Restoring is generally used when you describe the restoration of a dethroned monarch. It is not used to describe the resurrection of a law,” he said.
“The proposed act only focuses on the regulation of national newspapers, particularly when they are integrated with one another,” the commission chairman said.
“The regulations in the [proposed] act would not affect them [Want Want] if they were not involved in any newspaper integration,” he said.
The act does not add new regulations to the obligation of print media to make corrections and replies, Shyr said.
He said there was a need for legislation to regulate integrations of media outlets. Similar legislation already exists in other democracies, he said, and there is an urgent need to establish such a system in Taiwan.
While the version of the proposed act passed at the Legislative Yuan last month set clear restrictions on integration among certain types of media outlets and on the financial institutions investing in media outlets, Shyr said the commission may have problems using market share to regulate mergers of media outlets.
“The market share of a media outlet changes constantly, even daily” he said.
“Maybe a media outlet did not hit the market share ceiling in the [proposed] act when it plans a merger with another media outlet, but what if it hits the ceiling after the merger? Can an investor fully know in advance what the market share is? This might be difficult,” he said.
The commission wants both investors and media outlets to know in advance what lines they may not cross, with no confusion, he said.
The key to this is ensuring that information about media outlets must be transparent and open to the public, Shyr said.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it