The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday accused CTi News of trying to mislead the public by publishing a half-page advert claiming that the party interfered in the National Communications Commission’s (NCC) review of its application for a license renewal.
CTi News is distorting the commission’s review process by painting it as a political conflict and turning it into a smear campaign against the DPP, party spokeswoman Yen Juo-fang (顏若芳) said.
“The NCC is an independent body, which carries out reviews and makes decisions based on its members’ professional expertise, as well as regulations and legal requirements governing media operations,” Yen said.
“We condemn the baseless accusations in CTi News' advert, which claims that the DPP is a ‘black hand’ that has politically interfered with the NCC’s [operations]... CTi News is fabricating news to make false accusations against our party,” Yen added.
The advert on the bottom front page of the Chinese-language China Times, a CtiTV News affiliate, features two slogans — “Defend media freedom” and “Safeguard democratic values” — and allegations that the DPP had pressured the NCC into “shutting down” CTi News.
It also says that while “the DPP prides itself on upholding Taiwan’s democracy and freedom, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) is now burning down those values.”
Yen said the advert got only one thing right — that the DPP leadership and top officials have not expressed their views on CTi News' case, as “our party has defended media freedom, and we respect the NCC’s review process.”
“The advert actually proves that the DPP did not politically interfere in the process,” she added.
CTi News has in the past few days been presented a series of reports and programs that reflect the stance of Want Want China Times Group, the parent company of CTi News, to attack lawmakers and academics, she said.
“Is this in line with the code of ethics for journalists ?” Yen asked.
Media reports have shown that CTi News and certain Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) members had colluded to produce news reports to mislead the public and pressure the NCC, she said.
“They were working to undermine the NCC’s independence and its authority,” Yen said, adding that it shows how the KMT is trying to interfere with the NCC.
The advert also claims that CTi News has received “widespread support” for its “cause of defending media freedom” by listing leaders from the KMT, the Taiwan People’s Party, New Party, Taiwan Renewal Party, Formosa Alliance and other organizations purportedly speaking out in support of it, Yen said.
Regarding this claim, Yen said that CTi News has reporters, on the pretext of conducting interviews, forcing politicians to express their stance about the NCC review process and whether they support CTi News.
That is misleading and inappropriate media behavior, she said.
The Grand Hotel Taipei on Saturday confirmed that its information system had been illegally accessed and expressed its deepest apologies for the concern it has caused its customers, adding that the issue is being investigated by the Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau. The hotel said that on Tuesday last week, it had discovered an external illegal intrusion into its information system. An initial digital forensic investigation confirmed that parts of the system had been accessed, it said, adding that the possibility that some customer data were stolen and leaked could not be ruled out. The actual scope and content of the affected data
DO THEY BITE IT? Cats have better memories than people might think, but their motivation is based entirely around the chance of getting fed Cats can remember the identity of the people who fed them the day before, Taipei-based veterinarians said on Friday, debunking a popular myth that cats have a short memory. If a stray does not recognize the person who fed them the previous day, it is likely because they are not carrying food and the cat has no reason to recognize them, said Wu Chou Animal Hospital head Chen Chen-huan (陳震寰). “When cats come to a human bearing food, it is coming for the food, not the person,” he said. “The food is the key.” Since the cat’s attention is on the food, it
A New York-based NGO has launched a global initiative to rename the nation’s overseas missions, most of which operate under the name "Taipei," to "Taiwan Representative Office (TRO)," according to a news release. Ming Chiang (江明信), CEO of Hello Taiwan, announced the campaign at a news conference in Berlin on Monday, coinciding with the World Forum held from Monday through Wednesday, the institution stated in the release. Speaking at the event, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Huang Jie (黃捷) said she believed this renaming campaign would enable the international community to see Taiwan
DEFENSE: The US should cancel the US visas or green cards of relatives of KMT and TPP lawmakers who have been blocking the budget, Grant Newsham said A retired US Marine Corps officer has suggested canceling the US green cards and visas of relatives of opposition Taiwanese lawmakers who have been stalling the review of a proposed NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.7 billion) special defense budget. The Executive Yuan has proposed the budget for major weapons purchases over eight years, from this year to 2033. However, opposition lawmakers have refused to review the proposal, demanding that President William Lai (賴清德) first appear before the Legislative Yuan to answer questions about the proposed budget. On Thursday last week, 37 bipartisan US lawmakers sent a letter to Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), the heads
RSS