The Chinese Television System (CTS) said that its news programs would steer clear of gory, sexual and violent content as of yesterday.
The move reverses a firm trend in news coverage. Since the deregulation of cable TV more than a decade ago, sensational stories and images have gradually become the selling point of many TV news programs.
"CTS is the first television station to bring television news back to normal," said Lu Shih-hsiang (
During its evening news program yesterday, CTS announced its "Self-Discipline and Purification Declaration" (
"The morals of Taiwanese society have become degraded over the years. By issuing this declaration, we hope to provide untainted news programs to the audience," said Rick Chu (
The seven types of prohibited content are: patients receiving emergency medical treatment, the faces of crime suspects, car accidents, roadside alcohol breath tests, family disputes, crime scene simulations and superstitions -- such as people who claim to be possessed by spirits.
CTS has confidence that the move will not affect its ratings.
"What we are doing is segmenting the television news audience and our news programs are targeting viewers who want to watch news with ethical content," Chu said.
"We conducted a poll of viewers and found that the majority of those surveyed, especially residents in southern and central Taiwan, welcomed the return of `clean' television news programs," Chu said.
The station's aim is to professionalize and safeguard its media standards, he said.
Programming will include quality, in-depth reporting with a focus on political, economic and international news, as well as coverage of social issues, Chu said.
Lu, a former journalist and a long-term media observer, defined "normal news programming."
"Normal news should be ethical and professional. Unfortunately, due to the negative effect of competition among television news and the commercialism of the news industry, news has become sensationalized," Lu said.
"What CTS is doing is trying to direct the quality of news back to the way it is supposed to be," Lu said. "I hope CTS can live up to its own expectations."
Lu said sensational news obscures the truth.
"A common practice today is that a news station pre-determines what news topics they would like to produce and then for several days the station will repeatedly provide heavy coverage on unsubstantiated matters. After all the hubbub, the truth of the matter still remains unclear to the audience," Lu said.
Lu hoped the public would give CTS credit for its intention to broadcast ethical and professional news programs.
"It is encouraging to know that at least one station bothers to take up its responsibility and face its audience truthfully. I hope other media outlets, including print journalism, will follow suit," Lu said.
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