A survey by Taiwan Media Watch found that close to 97 percent of the respondents said that the news media coverage of the killing of a four-year-old girl in Taipei’s Neihu District (內湖) on Monday last week caused widespread panic in society.
The non-profit foundation said it launched a four-day survey on Wednesday last week to evaluate how the television news coverage of the random killing was perceived by the public.
Nearly 1,400 questionnaires were gathered, with 70 percent of respondents saying they read or watch the news every day. The main sources of the news were social networks (48.8 percent), news media Web sites (28.5 percent) and television (20.7 percent).
According to the foundation, the most significant finding was that 96.9 percent said the coverage of the murder had caused panic in society, while 91.1 percent said that the coverage would harm the mental health of children.
Meanwhile, 92 percent said the “excessive” media coverage of the killing would encourage copycats to do the same thing, the foundation said, adding that some of the respondents said they believed that two similar incidents happened immediately afterward as a result of the non-stop coverage.
Nearly 90 percent said the television news showed bad judgement in terms of the way it presented the news, while 85 percent said television news channels gave too many details about how the crime was committed.
In addition, 74.2 percent said the television news coverage failed to provide sufficient information on safety and psychological issues, while 92 percent said the National Communications Commission should better regulate the news coverage of this type of incident, while 98.5 percent said that news media need to show more restraint when covering such incidents.
Almost 95 percent said that civic groups should monitor news coverage so that news media become more aware of their social responsibility.
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