Local media managers and professors yesterday said that the nation's many popular TV and radio talk shows neither reflect public opinion nor inform their audiences.
They made their remarks at a press conference convened to make their criticism public.
"These talk-show hosts and guests are always arguing with each other over their different points of view about a specific topic without any practical or useful conclusions or suggestion," said Yu Chi-san (游智森), news editor at the Great Entertainment Daily.
"These talk shows give the impression that nothing happens in Taiwan except politics, which is not true. But do these programs really reflect the public's views and deliver important messages?"
According to a survey conducted by the School of Communications at Ming Chuan University from January through March, there were 12 talk shows on television and the radio, 11 of which were about political issues. The other, which is still on the air, is about a different topic each week.
"I have tried to work with TV producers," said Lee Shao-ming (
Yang Chi-heng (楊志弘), the dean of the School of Communications at Ming Chuan University, said that the talk shows were all too similar to each other. The same guests, usually print journalists or politicians, he said, could show up on different channels' shows about similar topics on the same day.
"I can almost predict what the guests or the hosts are going to say just by looking at their faces," said He Te-feng (賀德芬), president of the Taiwan Media Watch Foundation.
"These people seem to want to dictate to the media, say whatever they want and do whatever they like. But their opinions are not the public's opinions."
The survey also showed that talk shows started to become successful about ten years ago. They have reached their highest audiences within the past three years.
"Talk shows are not all meaningless and useless," said Chang Chong-jen (張崇仁), the director of radio and television affairs at the Government Information Office. "Talk show producers shouldn't just focus on political issues and let the guests yell at each other on TV because that serves no purpose at all."
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