Expressing his views on the media, President Chen Shui-bian (
"The media do pursue the truth," Chen writes, "but I wish the media would not only be crows that `caw' over tragic news, but also be magpies that cheer when there is happy news."
Chen made the remarks in the book The Premier Voyage of the Century (世紀首航), which will appear on bookshelves this week to mark his first 500 days in office.
Commenting on officials who were declared guilty of leaking confidential information to journalists, Chen said that reporters should bear national security in mind "because nothing would be left without the existence of the nation.
"I completely understand the concept of being a devoted reporter, but being the president, I have to put national security first, Chen writes."
In August, Major Liu Chih-chung (
Lo Chih-hao (
Chen also had a few words for TV talk shows, saying "everytime I think about the channels spending so much resource commenting on me, I think it is a shame."
Political call-in shows enjoy enormous popularity in Taiwan. A dozen political call-in programs are broadcast on approximately 10 cable channels.
A typical one-hour program combines the audience's call-in opinions and questions with those of politicians, scholars and journalists. Given that Taiwan's media is dominated by those who favor unification with China, most of the programs are critical of the Chen administration.
Attempting to point the media in a more neutral direction, President Chen offered guidelines for the media, calling them "the media's new middle way."
"The media should report more good news -- emphasizing stories that demonstrate the positive qualities of human nature," Chen writes. "The media must strike a balance between the speed with which it reports and the depth with which it does so."
The press must balance its freedom with the exercise of self-restraint; it must balance its coverage of Taiwanese news and overseas news, it must better balance its coverage of disasters and pleasant events, Chen states.
The president took a humorous approach in commenting on the media's frequent use of the phrase "said a high-ranking presidential official."
"Every morning, two military police officers go to the roof to raise the flag. These two officers are the highest-ranking presidential officials. Of course, they won't talk recklessly to outsiders," the president said.
"We can be sure that not all remarks made by unidentified presidential officials are credible."
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