CtiTV’s news channel has operated inappropriately, to the extent that it impaired the interests and rights of subscribers, the National Communications Commission (NCC) said yesterday, adding that it has given the network three months to address the issue.
The commission announced its decision after reviewing video footage recorded in September last year by Taipei City Councilor Chiu Wei-chieh (邱威傑), who is also an online talk show host known as Guaji (呱吉).
The footage showed Chiu receiving a telephone call from a CtiTV salesperson, who asked if Chiu wanted to attend a talk show on CtiTV News, and have a feature story done about him and his online talk show.
He was then told that it would cost him about NT$170,000.
Chiu turned down the offer.
The channel is required to take the incident to its own ethics committee, which must discuss ways to improve its operations, the commission said.
The channel was also asked to stipulate ethical guidelines to be followed by its sales and advertising department, it said, adding that it should make public the records of the ethics committee’s decisionmaking process and send a copy of it to the NCC.
The management and personnel in the advertising department must undergo training on journalism ethics and standards, and the channel must send a report on how it followed the NCC’s ruling and whether doing so helped it improve its operations, the commission said.
The channel would be subject to administrative punishment if it fails to improve its operations within three months, the commission said, adding that it could continue to penalize the channel if it keeps failing to improve.
Asked why it took the NCC more than a year to reach a decision, the commission said it had to verify the information with Chiu and twice had to ask the management of CtiTV News to come to the commission to answer questions.
The channel was also asked to present diverse opinions when handling news about itself, after it was found in April to be using its talk shows to accuse the NCC of unfairly punishing the channel.
Meanwhile, Sanlih TV News was asked to improve its fact-checking mechanisms after it reported in March that a Kaohsiung city councilor’s voice was muted in a live stream of a question-and-answer session with Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) at the Kaohsiung City Council.
The NCC said that the incident was due to technical difficulties that occurred during streaming.
The channel also failed to verify the authenticity of an online report claiming that Beijing planned to take over the nation by sending 5 million immigrants to Taiwan, the commission said.
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
Tropical Storm Fung-Wong would likely strengthen into a typhoon later today as it continues moving westward across the Pacific before heading in Taiwan’s direction next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am, Fung-Wong was about 2,190km east-southeast of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving westward at 25kph and possibly accelerating to 31kph, CWA data showed. The tropical storm is currently over waters east of the Philippines and still far from Taiwan, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said, adding that it could likely strengthen into a typhoon later in the day. It is forecast to reach the South China Sea
WEATHER Typhoon forming: CWA A tropical depression is expected to form into a typhoon as early as today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, adding that the storm’s path remains uncertain. Before the weekend, it would move toward the Philippines, the agency said. Some time around Monday next week, it might reach a turning point, either veering north toward waters east of Taiwan or continuing westward across the Philippines, the CWA said. Meanwhile, the eye of Typhoon Kalmaegi was 1,310km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, as of 2am yesterday, it said. The storm is forecast to move through central
UNKNOWN TRAJECTORY: The storm could move in four possible directions, with the fourth option considered the most threatening to Taiwan, meteorologist Lin De-en said A soon-to-be-formed tropical storm east of the Philippines could begin affecting Taiwan on Wednesday next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. The storm, to be named Fung-wong (鳳凰), is forecast to approach Taiwan on Tuesday next week and could begin affecting the weather in Taiwan on Wednesday, CWA forecaster Huang En-hung (黃恩鴻) said, adding that its impact might be amplified by the combined effect with the northeast monsoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the system’s center was 2,800km southeast of Oluanbi (鵝鑾鼻). It was moving northwest at 18kph. Meteorologist Lin De-en (林得恩) on Facebook yesterday wrote that the would-be storm is surrounded by
RSS