If Taiwanese learned any valuable lesson from the COVID-19 pandemic, it is that nothing will do more for the public interest and effective governance than transparent information and policy formation processes, and rational debate. Providing a platform for information disclosure and rational debate is the most important function of news media in a democratic society.
However, only 24 percent — less than one-quarter — of Taiwanese trust the news media. The most trusted media outlet, the Public Television Service (PTS), has the second-lowest viewership, while the least trusted outlet ranks third from the top. This is the current situation of Taiwan’s news media.
The above facts are from the Digital News Report 2020 released by Oxford University’s Reuters Institute.
Taiwan has been included in the survey since 2017. Over the four years since then, the proportion of Taiwanese getting their news from mobile phones has increased from 65 percent to 74 percent.
The proportions of people getting their news from the Internet, TV and print media have all dropped, with the number for print media dropping significantly, to 21 percent. Only social media saw a slight increase to 57 percent, but only 16 percent of Taiwanese trust the news available on social media.
Among the 40 news media markets surveyed, Taiwanese had the third-lowest trust in news media, and ranked ninth from the bottom in worrying about fake news on the Internet — at 45 percent — below the average of 56 percent, yet 79 percent watch online news videos, above the average of 67 percent.
The picture described by the survey results shows that Taiwanese get their news from social media on their mobile phones, and they love news videos, which have replaced news outlets such as the Internet, television, radio and, in particular, newspapers. In fact, it would hardly matter if these media stopped existing.
However, they put no trust at all in either news media or the news they see on social media, but they do not really care if the news is real or fake. Despite their trust in PTS, few watch it. On the contrary, the most untrusted media have the biggest audience, backed by their die-hard supporters.
This picture presents a “post-truth era” society — people only watch and believe the media outlets that obviously have the same position as they do themselves, while everything else is considered “fake news.”
Those who say that the news they watch or read is fake are partners in crime of those who produce the fake news. This kind of society can only end in ideological polarization.
In such a polarized society, news media might choose to ignore facts and highlight only their own standpoint to trigger viral transmission in their hunt for short-term click-rate benefits, but in the long run this will reduce their credibility and brand value.
Even more seriously, once one news media outlet does this to survive, others would have no choice but to follow suit.
The mentality is similar to that of panic-buying masks and toilet paper — like it or not, you have to go with the flow.
When they go down together, they will destroy not only the news industry, but also the democratic mechanisms supported by the fourth estate.
Scolding and mocking supporters of other ideologies should not be the job of the news media. As members of a democratic society, Taiwanese should take concrete action to show the news media how much they care about the facts — no facts, no money.
Chang Yueh-han is an adjunct assistant professor in Shih Hsin University’s journalism department.
Translated by Lin Lee-kai
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