Reporters Without Borders released its annual World Press Freedom Index on Thursday, lamenting the drastic decline in media freedom last year due to conflicts where media personnel were targeted to be killed, captured or pressured to relay propaganda.
Pressure to relay propaganda is something journalists in Taiwan are all too familiar with, not only during the Martial Law era, but in the past two decades amid growing Chinese influence on Taiwan’s media.
Concerns over the erosion of media freedom have increased, and there has been a public backlash against the more sensationalist methods employed by some broadcast and print outlets.
Taiwan ranked 51st out of 180 countries in the Index this year, with a score of 24.83, down one place from last year. Its best performances in recent years was in 2007, when it ranked 32nd out of 164 countries — a vast improvement from in 2003, when it was placed 61st out of 158 countries.
So Taiwan would appear to be doing okay, though it could do better. However, the media in this nation are under threat from without and within.
Media freedom made headlines at the start of the year when the Taipei Police Department announced that journalists and photographers covering protests would be restricted to designated press corrals and would need to utilize “media liaison” officers when seeking interviews with demonstrators, police or others. It drew a strong backlash from local and foreign reporters, who were equally dismayed a month later by the Taipei City Government’s proposal that they wear “press vests” at such events for their own protection. Both proposals smacked of paranoia about the need to “manage” the news and newsgathering.
Yet many in the media have consistently damaged their own standing through ill-conceived efforts to boost their ratings, as demonstrated on Wednesday in the rush to cover the Kaohsiung Prison drama.
The CtiTV show News Tornado thought it scored a hit with its live interview with prison warden Chen Shih-chih (陳世志), who was being held hostage by six prisoners at the time. Under criticism, CtiTV defended itself by saying it had wanted to interview the hostage negotiator, but he gave his cellphone to Chen instead. Nowhere was there any indication that either might have hampered efforts to resolve the crisis or endangered the lives of the hostages.
It was all too reminiscent of the circus that was the coverage of another hostage-taking, the seizure of then-South African defense attache Colonel McGill Alexander and his family in their Tianmu (天母) home in November 1997. Chen Chin-hsing (陳進興), who was wanted for the kidnap and murder of entertainer Pai Ping-ping’s (白冰冰) 17-year-old daughter, Pai Hsiao-yen (白曉燕), had seized the Alexanders to win airing of his demands. The Tianmu situation was extremely tense because gunshots had already been fired when police tried to rush the house, yet TV stations repeatedly monopolized telephone lines to interview Chen on the air while the authorities were trying to negotiate an end to the standoff.
In Kaohsiung Prison, the hostage-takers shot at camera-equipped drones. The head of the Satellite Television Broadcasting Association’s self-disciplinary committee said members would meet this month to discuss the use of drones, although she said she thought the question of whether the media should be able to interview mediators or hostage negotiators during a crisis was open for discussion.
Journalists and media outlets worldwide are under pressure to report the news and beat their rivals to break a story. However, exploitative coverage and acts that potentially endanger the lives of other people, are not the way to go. They are also self-defeating, since they provide ammunition for those who want to curb the press and restrict the ability of journalists and photographers to do their jobs. Taiwan can afford neither.
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