The Government Information Office's (GIO) attempt to reinstate order in the broadcasting industry and bring an end to the chaos is justice delayed. It has not, however, been welcomed by the public, and some have even raised criticism, saying that their interests are being violated.
UFO Radio chairman Jaw Shaw-kong (
First of all, it will not be the current GIO director who sullies the agency's name for posterity, but rather all the GIO directors who served during Jaw's time as a loyal Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) member, among them People First Party Chairman James Soong (
Jaw was a member of the martial law system, and has never been a victim of media suppression. On the contrary, he used the KMT's media suppression methods to make himself the media's golden boy and accrue power. Now that the GIO wants to reform, and Jaw's private interests are seen as failing to hold up to public scrutiny, he immediately launches a counterattack using his old political methods. It is repulsive.
Second, support is coming from other corners. Kuan Chung-hsiang (管中祥), convener of the Campaign for Media Reform (媒體改造學社), has affirmed the GIO's current review of the operations of medium range broadcasters to see if they comply with their originally stated purpose.
"It is simply a matter of legal administration, making up for past laziness in execution," Kuan said.
It shows that Lin Chia-lung is conscientious in carrying out his duties, and that he is taking action, which is praiseworthy.
Kuan's statement, which came out after Jaw publicly criticized the review, saying that, "If we are violating the law, I guess it means all previous GIO directors were incompetent, and that, you, Lin Chia-lung, are one clever guy," effectively replied on Lin's behalf, implying it was Jaw, and not Lin who was "trying to frame someone."
Third, it is a fact that UFO Radio broadcasts are jointly broadcast by other stations. The Broadcasting and Television Law (廣電法) was revised to eliminate the clause allowing radio stations to carry out joint broadcasts. This was an attempt to follow the original spirit of the law, which doesn't allow for this, although it fails to say so explicitly. Lin asked whether it really was necessary to maintain administrative orders passed on from previous directors. This is something that should be reviewed.
Fourth, Jaw claimed that jointly broadcast programs account for less than 70 percent of what is allowed under government regulations, but he brought forward no evidence to back this up. This claim has to be checked against the facts, and does not become true just because Jaw says it is.
Fifth, and most importantly, are the eight radio stations engaging in joint broadcasts with UFO Radio violating their found-ing guidelines? It is the job of the regulating authority, the GIO, to check this. Whether or not the station agrees, the GIO can investigate. By asking "why should they be so involved?" Jaw revealed his disregard for the law. In other words, when the law interferes with his unreasonable behavior, he objects to the authorities fulfilling their legal responsibilities. That is preposterous.
Jaw's desperation is proof that the reforms are reasonable.
Chin Heng-wei is editor in chief of Contemporary Monthly.
Translated by Perry Svensson
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