Is it remotely possible that James Soong, the previous head of the Gov-ernment Information Office, is feeling ?ornered?by the media?
Soong originally planned to hold a low-key news conference after the Chung Hsing Bills Finance Co scandal broke, ?haring his feelings?with the media and telling his side of the events. He had hoped to bring the public back into his fold, but was caught off guard by the media's aggressive attitude.
Soong lost ground as a result of the news conference, clearly underestimating the media's status in present day society. Soong then decided to hold a second press conference, announcing more unimportant details and unsubstantiated claims (and refusing to publicize the proof he has). This only served to further reduce the public's opinion of Soong.
In the past, Taiwan's media was an apparatus for one-way communication, controlled by a small minority. Control gave those in power the ability to spread unfounded rumors and allowed them a great deal of room for political maneuvering.
Today, however, the media is not satisfied with merely repeating unfounded rumors. Reporters confront those in the spotlight with questions and suspicions. Those who want to manipulate the media, control pub-lic opinion, distort the focus of issues or confuse the public must first face reporters' questioning.
Individuals are no longer able to control the media as they were in the past, and do not have the power to arbitrarily decide what issues are newsworthy. The media supervises the news, and the public supervises the media. If there are mistakes or errors, the line of responsibility is clear and the public is able to criticize and exert pressure over those responsible.
The weight of public opinion is now often brought to bear on issues within 24 hours after they occur. Even if individuals attempt to control the media by postponing their news conferences until after the deadline for a morning newspaper, it seems to have little effect.
If you were watching the ?100?call-in show the night of Soong's news conference, you would have been privy to the discussion and opinions of a range of scholars, party spokespersons and pundits. People don't have to wait for the next day's papers to get their news.
Furthermore, the media today reports and comments on social or political events through a variety of methods. If there are still people who think that they can fool the media and pub-lic into supporting them, then they have not grasped the plurality and power of the media and have under-estimated the public's ability to search out information and judge its accuracy.
It is still possible to use the media to hoodwink the public if news reports are carefully manipulated. But reporters cannot be fooled into accepting doctored news without first questioning its accuracy.
If officials are unwilling to change their antediluvian perceptions of the media, then media and public pressure directed against them will continue to grow. Those who try to fool the public will find it increasingly difficult to crawl out of the holes they themselves have dug.
Hsu Jen-chie is the chairperson of the Department of Communications Management at Shih Hsin University.
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