The heads of 10 journalism and communication schools nationwide yesterday issued a statement opposing a bid by Want Want Broadband to acquire the the cable TV systems owned by China Network Systems (CNS).
The statement is expected to be the focus of discussions at the legislature’s Transportation Committee meeting today, when lawmakers review four nominations for commissioner of the National Communications Commission.
The Want Want-CNS deal involves the merger of a media conglomerate owning newspapers, magazines and TV networks with the nation’s second-largest multiple service operator (MSO).
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
The commission has yet to approve the merger, which it has been reviewing for 16 months.
Three of the department chairs — Lin Yuan-huei (林元輝), chair of the department of journalism at National Chengchi University; Lin Lih-yun (林麗雲), director of the Graduate Institute of Journalism at National Taiwan University; and Hu Guang-shiash (胡光夏), chair of the department of journalism at Shih Hsin University — yesterday attended a press conference called by Taiwan Media Watch board director Lin Fu-yueh (林福岳). Want Want China Broadband was represented by special assistant to its chairman, Chao Yu-pei (趙育培).
Lin Fu-yueh said that the group of journalism department directors do not want a media group to monopolize public opinion in Taiwan.
“We reviewed the performance of the Want Want China Times Group over the past year or so and feel the group is not qualified to manage media,” they said. “We are thus strongly against allowing such a group to manage even more media.”
The experts also listed several actions taken by the group that they said were unprofessional and failed to live to up to its corporate responsibility, including allowing the Chinese government to buy news coverage at the Chinese-language daily China Times and lashing out at individuals and groups with opposing views.
In response, Chao said Want Want China Broadband and Want Want China Times Group were different companies, adding that the former was prepared to make 29 commitments if the Want Want-CNS deal were approved.
He said the China Times was fined NT$1.8 million (US$61,000) for allowing embedded marketing by the Chinese government, and added that Want Want China Broadband would have an internal review on all aspects of marketing.
Chao said the company would not give preferential treatment to channels from the Want Want China Times Group, adding that media controlled by the group represented only one of many different voices in Taiwan and it is unlikely that the deal would monopolize opinions.
“We welcome specific examples about how stories in the China Times betrayed the faith of Taiwanese, not abstract thoughts and observations,” Chao said.
Lin Fu-yueh said he had read the list of commitments and doubted the company had the ability to keep them.
“If Want Want China Broadband and the Want Want China Times Group are indeed unrelated, I could not help but ask why the latter defended the former by devoting an entire page at the China Times to the coverage of a public hearing on the deal,” he said. “Would you do the same if it was another group that wanted to purchase the CNS? Would you give favorable coverage to that group, too?”
Lin Lih-yun quoted Want Want chairman Tsai Eng-meng (蔡衍明), who said at the public hearing earlier this month that he did not know what was wrong with getting paid by the Chinese government to write news for them.
“The commission should have rejected this deal a long time ago because Tsai was doing something illegal,” she said. “They should have revoked the licenses of their television networks, too.”
The statement was drafted by Taiwan Media Watch and endorsed by: Aaron Chiu (邱誌勇), chairman of the department of mass communication at Providence University; Chen Chih-hsien (陳志賢), chair of the department of cultural development at National Kaohsiung University of Applied Science; Mark Chen (陳春富), chair of the department of communication arts at Fu Jen Catholic University; Chen Ping-hung (陳炳宏), chair of the Graduate Institute of Mass Communication at National Taiwan Normal University; Tseng Kuo-feng (曾國峰), director of the department of radio and television at National Chengchi University; Shaw Pin (蕭蘋), head of the Institute of Communications Management at National Sun Yat-sen University; and Day Wan-wen (戴皖文), chair of the department of communication at National Chung Cheng University.
TRAGEDY: An expert said that the incident was uncommon as the chance of a ground crew member being sucked into an IDF engine was ‘minuscule’ A master sergeant yesterday morning died after she was sucked into an engine during a routine inspection of a fighter jet at an air base in Taichung, the Air Force Command Headquarters said. The officer, surnamed Hu (胡), was conducting final landing checks at Ching Chuan Kang (清泉崗) Air Base when she was pulled into the jet’s engine for unknown reasons, the air force said in a news release. She was transported to a hospital for emergency treatment, but could not be revived, it said. The air force expressed its deepest sympathies over the incident, and vowed to work with authorities as they
A tourist who was struck and injured by a train in a scenic area of New Taipei City’s Pingsi District (平溪) on Monday might be fined for trespassing on the tracks, the Railway Police Bureau said yesterday. The New Taipei City Fire Department said it received a call at 4:37pm on Monday about an incident in Shifen (十分), a tourist destination on the Pingsi Railway Line. After arriving on the scene, paramedics treated a woman in her 30s for a 3cm to 5cm laceration on her head, the department said. She was taken to a hospital in Keelung, it said. Surveillance footage from a
BITTERLY COLD: The inauguration ceremony for US president-elect Donald Trump has been moved indoors due to cold weather, with the new venue lacking capacity A delegation of cross-party lawmakers from Taiwan, led by Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), for the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump, would not be able to attend the ceremony, as it is being moved indoors due to forecasts of intense cold weather in Washington tomorrow. The inauguration ceremony for Trump and US vice president-elect JD Vance is to be held inside the Capitol Rotunda, which has a capacity of about 2,000 people. A person familiar with the issue yesterday said although the outdoor inauguration ceremony has been relocated, Taiwan’s legislative delegation has decided to head off to Washington as scheduled. The delegation
Another wave of cold air would affect Taiwan starting from Friday and could evolve into a continental cold mass, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Temperatures could drop below 10°C across Taiwan on Monday and Tuesday next week, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. Seasonal northeasterly winds could bring rain, he said. Meanwhile, due to the continental cold mass and radiative cooling, it would be cold in northern and northeastern Taiwan today and tomorrow, according to the CWA. From last night to this morning, temperatures could drop below 10°C in northern Taiwan, it said. A thin coat of snow
RSS