Media watchdog organizations yesterday denounced the prevalence of unfounded information reported in the nation's newspapers and the large amount of obscene language on television.
A report conducted by Taiwan's Association of University Professors (
Yu Ying-fu (尤英夫), a member of the professor's association, said that the reporting of news without providing sufficient information about sources or facts is "upholding gossip instead of news professionalism."
"Providing names and a clear source of information is the basic knowledge a news reporter should have. Reporting news without giving facts and sources is totally outrageous," Yu said, citing the example of a report from a local newspaper on an alleged drug party at Taipei City's Huashan Arts District (
The TAA said it would send copies of the reports to media organizations and advertisers that have registered with the TAA.
Meanwhile, at a press conference yesterday, the TAA released its media watch reports for June and July.
The report on TV entertainment programs was done by Mothers Observing Media Foundation (
The foundation monitored nine entertainment shows produced by the four major broadcasting stations -- TTV, CTV, CTS and FTV -- and said they found the most serious problem among the programs was what they called improper content.
The foundation defines improper content as obscene language, pornographic or violent behavior or a violation of privacy.
Fang Di (
"These use curse and swear words, which are often used as catch phrases by the show's hosts. This could have a profoundly negative influence on our children," Fang said, emphasizing that the shows monitored had all been rated as suitable for viewers of all ages.
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