Reporters' Day, a little-known national holiday celebrating the contributions of journalists, generated much fanfare in Taipei yesterday -- but not for the reasons the holiday's creators intended.
University students and panelists at a news conference used the occasion to blast the media for being unprofessional and sensational, and for failing in its duty to educate the public.
"Reporters' Day should be a day to celebrate! Instead, we have no choice but to use this holiday to criticize the media and urge them to reflect on how they report the news!" screamed Lin Ching-tang (
Halfway through the rally, Lin's megaphone cut out, so he shouted out students' demands that the media be more professional until he went hoarse.
"Boycott unprofessional news outlets!" Lin shouted to a cheering crowd.
The Association of Taiwan Journalists, a non-government, non-profit organization comprised of media professionals, also slammed local media in a Taipei press conference yesterday for a lack of professionalism.
"Reporters have gone from being the victims of human rights violations by the government of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) era, to being victimizers of the subjects on whom they report," said Tien Hsi-ju (田習如), the association's director.
Lin I-hui (林宜慧), the General-Secretary of the Persons with HIV/AIDS Rights Advocacy Association of Taiwan (PRAA), blamed the local media during yesterday's conference for spreading misinformation regarding HIV/AIDS.
She cited local newspapers' reports of surgical mask-clad riot police hauling away HIV-positive protesters at a rally last year.
"People look at these blown-up pictures, and in the absence of any explanation of how HIV/AIDS is spread by the media, they think the police were wearing raincoats, surgical gloves and masks because the disease is easily spread," Lin told reporters.
Huang Ta-yuan (黃達元), a panelist in the conference and a lawyer in the Judicial Reform Foundation, an NGO comprised of legal reform-minded lawyers and professors, cited a recent survey conducted by the 1111 Jobs Bank.
According to a Central News Agency report yesterday, that survey found that 84 percent of Taiwanese journalists want to leave their jobs.
"The people who want to quit their jobs the most are reporters," Huang said.
Huang added that the media environment had deteriorated to the point where not even reporters can stand it.
Panelists and protesters yesterday were quick to add that reporters themselves were not necessarily to blame for their unprofessional conduct.
In most cases, reporters' editors and upper-level management are behind sensationalism in the media, or they pressure reporters to conduct themselves in ways that may prove commercially successful, but are unethical, the protesters said.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) departed for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark. Tsai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday night, but did not speak to reporters before departing. Tsai wrote on social media later that the purpose of the trip was to reaffirm the commitment of Taiwanese to working with democratic allies to promote regional security and stability, upholding freedom and democracy, and defending their homeland. She also expressed hope that through joint efforts, Taiwan and Europe would continue to be partners building up economic resilience on the global stage. The former president was to first
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Monday called for greater cooperation between Taiwan, Lithuania and the EU to counter threats to information security, including attacks on undersea cables and other critical infrastructure. In a speech at Vilnius University in the Lithuanian capital, Tsai highlighted recent incidents in which vital undersea cables — essential for cross-border data transmission — were severed in the Taiwan Strait and the Baltic Sea over the past year. Taiwanese authorities suspect Chinese sabotage in the incidents near Taiwan’s waters, while EU leaders have said Russia is the likely culprit behind similar breaches in the Baltic. “Taiwan and our European
The Taipei District Court sentenced babysitters Liu Tsai-hsuan (劉彩萱) and Liu Jou-lin (劉若琳) to life and 18 years in prison respectively today for causing the death of a one-year-old boy in December 2023. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said that Liu Tsai-hsuan was entrusted with the care of a one-year-old boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), in August 2023 by the Child Welfare League Foundation. From Sept. 1 to Dec. 23 that year, she and her sister Liu Jou-lin allegedly committed acts of abuse against the boy, who was rushed to the hospital with severe injuries on Dec. 24, 2023, but did not
RSS