Lobby groups Media Monitor Alliance and Media Reform yesterday called on the Government Information Office (GIO) to closely review applicants for new cable TV licenses this month in regard to inappropriate broadcast content.
"A survey conducted by the Broadcasting Development Fund recently showed that, surprisingly, 31 percent of viewers have never watched a news channel, and that 73 percent of viewers believe that Taiwan's news channels have a negative influence on society because they are full of violence, gore, groundless gossip and rumor, while the most important issues are sometimes neglected," fund chief executive officer and Media Monitor Alliance spokesman Connie Lin (林育卉) said.
According to the survey, about 50 percent of viewers aged between 30 and 50 thought there were too many news channels, while 54.8 percent of all interviewees said they disliked seeing politicians "showing off."
About 70 percent of viewers agreed with the proposition that there is too much celebrity gossip in the news, while 50 percent of viewers said that news services contain excessive, aberrant or superstitious content.
"The reason why news channels place lots of emphasis on gossip, violence and gore is that there is ruthless competition between media outlets," Lin said.
"We have eight all-day news channels for such a small island. Under the pressure of time and limited human resources, absurdity in the news becomes inevitable." she said.
Lin asked the GIO to reorganize the media environment and reduce the number of cable news channels.
She said this was the most practical and realistic way to ease competition between media outlets and would then give the audiences what could truly be called "news."
Media Reform commissioner Eve Chiu (
The Media Monitor Alliance and Media Reform together with other activist groups will today visit GIO Minister Pasuya Yao (
Taiwan is to have nine extended holidays next year, led by a nine-day Lunar New Year break, the Cabinet announced yesterday. The nine-day Lunar New Year holiday next year matches the length of this year’s holiday, which featured six extended holidays. The increase in extended holidays is due to the Act on the Implementation of Commemorative and Festival Holidays (紀念日及節日實施條例), which was passed early last month with support from the opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party. Under the new act, the day before Lunar New Year’s Eve is also a national holiday, and Labor Day would no longer be limited
Taiwan is to extend its visa-waiver program for Philippine passport holders for another year, starting on Aug. 1, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said on Friday. Lin made the announcement during a reception in Taipei marking the 127th anniversary of Philippine independence and the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) in Taiwan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The decision reflected Taiwan’s commitment to deepening exchanges with the Philippines, the statement cited Lin as saying, adding that it was a key partner under the New Southbound Policy launched in 2016. Lin also expressed hope
Costa Rica sent a group of intelligence officials to Taiwan for a short-term training program, the first time the Central American country has done so since the countries ended official diplomatic relations in 2007, a Costa Rican media outlet reported last week. Five officials from the Costa Rican Directorate of Intelligence and Security last month spent 23 days in Taipei undergoing a series of training sessions focused on national security, La Nacion reported on Friday, quoting unnamed sources. The Costa Rican government has not confirmed the report. The Chinese embassy in Costa Rica protested the news, saying in a statement issued the same
Temperatures in New Taipei City’s Sindian District (新店) climbed past 37°C yesterday, as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) issued heat alerts for 16 municipalities, warning the public of intense heat expected across Taiwan. The hottest location in Taiwan was in Sindian, where the mercury reached 37.5°C at about 2pm, according to CWA data. Taipei’s Shilin District (士林) recorded a temperature of 37.4°C at noon, Taitung County’s Jinfeng Township (金峰) at 12:50 pm logged a temperature of 37.4°C and Miaoli County’s Toufen Township (頭份) reached 36.7°C at 11:40am, the CWA said. The weather agency yesterday issued a yellow level information notice for Taipei, New
RSS