Checking sources
The Taipei Times’ recent article by Yang Mien-chieh and William Hetherington, “Most Taiwanese encounter media disinformation: poll” [Feb. 20, page 2], shines a disturbingly bright light on an ever-present challenge in today’s ever-expanding communication world: that of easily identifying misleading or blatantly false information.
As chair of the Public Relations Society of America’s Board of Ethics and Professional Standards, I see as one of my committee’s ever-present challenges that of educating and reminding our members and the general public of the critical importance of communicating truth and fact, not distorted or deliberately manipulated rumors.
Thankfully, public relations and journalism professionals have access to professional organizations that have and actively promote ethical standards as a hallmark of their line of work. But there are, sadly, those who do not choose to act accordingly.
One of the forefathers of the public relations profession, Ivy Ledbetter Lee, stated this belief clearly in 1906 — more than 100 years ago: “Our plan is frankly, and openly, on behalf of business concerns and public institutions, to supply the press and public ... prompt and accurate information concerning subjects which it is of value and interest to the public to know about.”
Unfortunately, toward the end of the 20th century, a proliferation of non-traditional communication avenues emerged that made it possible for anyone and everyone to act as a “journalist” and communicate without supervisory oversight “the news.”
Unfortunately, as well, there are those communication outlets — radio, television, print — that are more concerned with financial success than with journalistic integrity. The challenge thus falls to the news consumer to verify information that they receive.
In addition, I must observe as a public relations professional now having taught future generations of communication pros for two decades that our education systems — particularly at the pre-college level — are not doing a very good job of helping young minds grasp the importance of verifying information that they receive.
Our future government and business leaders must be taught the fine art of “critical thinking,” asking: “Why am I being told this? Who has verified the accuracy of this information?” rather than blithely saying: “Oh, I saw it on television, so it must be true.”
The challenge is real. No longer can we say, as my grandmother was fond of replying confidently when I asked her where she got her information: “I heard it on the radio.” We must check and double-check what we read/see/hear. As I am fond of saying myself, caveat lector — “let the reader beware.”
Kirk Hazlett
adjunct professor, University of Tampa
The gutting of Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Asia (RFA) by US President Donald Trump’s administration poses a serious threat to the global voice of freedom, particularly for those living under authoritarian regimes such as China. The US — hailed as the model of liberal democracy — has the moral responsibility to uphold the values it champions. In undermining these institutions, the US risks diminishing its “soft power,” a pivotal pillar of its global influence. VOA Tibetan and RFA Tibetan played an enormous role in promoting the strong image of the US in and outside Tibet. On VOA Tibetan,
Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), the leader of the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), caused a national outrage and drew diplomatic condemnation on Tuesday after he arrived at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office dressed in a Nazi uniform. Sung performed a Nazi salute and carried a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf as he arrived to be questioned over allegations of signature forgery in the recall petition. The KMT’s response to the incident has shown a striking lack of contrition and decency. Rather than apologizing and distancing itself from Sung’s actions,
US President Trump weighed into the state of America’s semiconductor manufacturing when he declared, “They [Taiwan] stole it from us. They took it from us, and I don’t blame them. I give them credit.” At a prior White House event President Trump hosted TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家), head of the world’s largest and most advanced chip manufacturer, to announce a commitment to invest US$100 billion in America. The president then shifted his previously critical rhetoric on Taiwan and put off tariffs on its chips. Now we learn that the Trump Administration is conducting a “trade investigation” on semiconductors which
By now, most of Taiwan has heard Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an’s (蔣萬安) threats to initiate a vote of no confidence against the Cabinet. His rationale is that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)-led government’s investigation into alleged signature forgery in the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) recall campaign constitutes “political persecution.” I sincerely hope he goes through with it. The opposition currently holds a majority in the Legislative Yuan, so the initiation of a no-confidence motion and its passage should be entirely within reach. If Chiang truly believes that the government is overreaching, abusing its power and targeting political opponents — then
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