On Tuesday, in the DPP's first Central Standing Committee meeting after the Lunar New Year holidays, President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) appealed to all party officials to withdraw from media operations to make good on his electoral promise to remove political and military influence from the media. But his call prompted a backlash from certain members. The events which followed are worth reflecting upon.
A small sign can indicate a great trend. The issue of "removing party, political and military influences from the media" dealt with in the amendment to the Broadcasting and Television Law (廣電法) to be reviewed in the current legislative session is certain to take center stage in next year's presidential election.
The media entities in which the DPP is now directly or indirectly involved include terrestrial and cable TV stations, radio stations, newspapers and magazines. With its all-pervasive involvement, the party has also expanded its influence through indirect public relations and advertising methods.
Since the DPP came to power, there has been no end to skepticism about its "greening" of the media. Some mass communications scholars now joke that the problem of political involvement in the media has now been "transferred," along with the party's electoral mandate, to the DPP.
The demand that party, political and military influences be removed from the media was an important issue when, as the opposition party, the DPP used to criticize the KMT government.
It is also one of the main reasons why people supported the DPP. The transfer of power notwithstanding, the standard must not be lowered.
Analyzed from another angle, the safeguarding of freedoms of the press and free speech, just like the protection of human rights, is an indicator of the extent of a society's democracy and freedom. Are Taiwan's media now to regress, having reached such an advanced stage of development?
With the election drawing near, the government has boldly and resolutely displayed its muscle, including its commitment to found a national mass communications committee and to revise laws to guarantee the proportion of local films being screened.
It has embraced both reform and creativity. It is not difficult to conclude that the tactic of placing old wine in a new bottle is aimed at laying the foundation for a presidential-election victory.
But society should applaud the policy since, after all, it is correct, even if it has been delayed.
As to freeing the media from political forces, the reason for doing this is simple: a clear line should be drawn between politics and the media. Neither political parties nor politicians should attempt to achieve their political goals by operating or even controlling the media. This is a basic feature of a well developed democratic society. There is no need to elaborate further.
The principle that political forces should withdraw from the media should apply to all parties, without exception. Our leaders should put more effort into formulating public welfare policies and leave more freedom for the media. Left to their own devices, the media will naturally do a better job and the public will appreciate the government's efforts. By contrast, if those in power seek, directly or indirectly, to manipulate the media, they will end up loathed by the people. Many historical examples provide ample testimony to this.
David Chen is an assistant research fellow at the National Policy Foundation.
Translated by Jackie Lin
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