The media performed well as a source of information during the 921 earthquake, but its credibility was undermined by reporters' insensitivity to the misfortune of disaster victims, a forum concluded yesterday.
Despite their disagreements over coverage, both critics and media professionals said they see a need to establish a mechanism under which reporters can gather as much information as possible within an ethical framework.
During and after the 921 quake, the media, with its advanced equipment and extensive manpower, played a primary role in disseminating information on the most recent events in the aftermath of the disaster.
However, at the forum, which was held by the Government Information Office, mixed judgments were delivered on the way reporters portrayed the quake and the people affected by it.
"The media was a great help. When the quake paralyzed the normal functions of a number of [government] agencies, we didn't know where to pursue life-saving operations until the media identified which stricken areas were emergency zones," said Huang Chi-min (黃季敏), deputy director-general of the National Fire Administration, the island's disaster-management authority.
Satisfaction with the media's performance after the earthquake has also been noted in several post-quake polls conducted by academics and the media itself.
However, media watchdogs pointed out yesterday that there is still plenty of room for increased professionalism in reporters' activities.
"It's a shock for me to hear reporters saying: `This is really the event of the century,' or `We'll bring you more great pictures later in the program,'" said Lu Yu-nu (呂-?k), secretary-general of the National Press Council (新聞評?委-?|).
"These inappropriate phrases show exactly how superficial the media coverage [of the quake] was." Huang Wei-wei (黃威葳), a professor of mass communication at National Chengchi University, who reminded media professionals that compassion is something to bear in mind when covering disasters of this scale.
"Covering a disaster is a process of learning what compassion is. Don't unnecessarily trouble victims and their families either during or after disasters. And don't expect to get a standardized response from them," Huang said. "Also remember, don't ever ask inappropriate questions such as `how do you feel about the disaster?'" he said.
Representatives of the media were quick to defend their performance in the face of criticism.
"When the quake happened at 1:47am that night, all our staff immediately returned to the office without orders from their superiors. They took their equipment and rushed to where houses were toppled and people were buried inside," said Chen Yi-mei (3祠怐?, deputy editor in chief of TVBS.
"Our reporters are not cold-blooded. At that point, we weren't only thinking of competition or ratings. Compassion was definitely there."
However, one media expert proposed a solution to help the industry stay within what the public deems as acceptable bounds.
"Regulations or codes of ethics are not something lacking in Taiwan's media environment. What we don't have here is a mechanism to put these rules into practice," said Ho Jung-hsing (|騢a幸), editor in chief of Media Watch magazine (目擊者) and a former director of the Association of Taiwan Journalists.
Seventy percent of middle and elementary schools now conduct English classes entirely in English, the Ministry of Education said, as it encourages schools nationwide to adopt this practice Minister of Education (MOE) Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) is scheduled to present a report on the government’s bilingual education policy to the Legislative Yuan’s Education and Culture Committee today. The report would outline strategies aimed at expanding access to education, reducing regional disparities and improving talent cultivation. Implementation of bilingual education policies has varied across local governments, occasionally drawing public criticism. For example, some schools have required teachers of non-English subjects to pass English proficiency
‘FORM OF PROTEST’: The German Institute Taipei said it was ‘shocked’ to see Nazi symbolism used in connection with political aims as it condemned the incident Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), who led efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), was released on bail of NT$80,000 yesterday amid an outcry over a Nazi armband he wore to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case on Tuesday night wearing a red armband bearing a swastika, carrying a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and giving a Nazi salute. Sung left the building at 1:15am without the armband and apparently covering the book with a coat. This is a serious international scandal and Chinese
TRADE: The premier pledged safeguards on ‘Made in Taiwan’ labeling, anti-dumping measures and stricter export controls to strengthen its position in trade talks Products labeled “made in Taiwan” must be genuinely made in Taiwan, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday, vowing to enforce strict safeguards against “origin laundering” and initiate anti-dumping investigations to prevent China dumping its products in Taiwan. Cho made the remarks in a discussion session with representatives from industries in Kaohsiung. In response to the US government’s recent announcement of “reciprocal” tariffs on its trading partners, President William Lai (賴清德) and Cho last week began a series of consultations with industry leaders nationwide to gather feedback and address concerns. Taiwanese and US officials held a videoconference on Friday evening to discuss the
PERSONAL DATA: The implicated KMT members allegedly compiled their petitions by copying names from party lists without the consent of the people concerned Judicial authorities searched six locations yesterday and questioned six people, including one elderly Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) member and five KMT Youth League associates, about alleged signature forgery and fraud relating to their recall efforts against two Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators. After launching a probe into alleged signature forgery and related fraud in the KMT’s recall effort, prosecutors received a number of complaints, including about one petition that had 1,748 signatures of voters whose family members said they had already passed away, and also voters who said they did not approve the use of their name, Taipei Deputy Chief Prosecutor
RSS