The more people rely on TV programs for scientific information, the lower they score in media literacy polls, a survey released on Wednesday last week by National Taiwan University showed.
The Internet has emerged as the most common source of scientific information for Taiwanese, used by 58 percent of respondents, followed by TV (32 percent) and print media such as books (15.4 percent), magazines (9.5 percent) and newspapers (6.1 percent), the survey conducted by the university’s Science Media Center Taiwan found.
In terms of which type of media they trusted, 32.1 percent of respondents said that no medium is trustworthy, while 36.2 percent said they trusted TV news, 20.3 percent trusted information that they found online and 5.9 percent trusted newspapers.
Asked how often they seek to verify information in a news story, 32.8 percent of respondents said that they “often” consult other sources, 27.3 percent said that they “sometimes” do and 22.6 percent said that they never do.
The survey included 15 questions to assess the respondents’ understanding of the limits of scientific research, scientific arguments and news headlines, as well as how well they could distinguish between factual and fabricated stories.
For instance, the survey asked respondents whether the following statements were true or false: “Taiwan’s farmers use hormones to stimulate growth in chickens,” “5G networks can spread the virus that causes COVID-19” and “offshore wind turbines can topple during a typhoon.” The correct answer to all three questions is “false.”
The survey found that people who rely more on TV programs scored lower in the test, while those who often verify information and have a higher level formal education scored higher.
The survey was conducted by mobile and landline telephone interviews among Taiwanese aged 18 and older from May 25 to 30, and included 1,068 valid questionnaires.
It had a margin of error of 2.98 percentage points.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck Kaohsiung at 1pm today, the Central Weather Administration said. The epicenter was in Jiasian District (甲仙), 72.1km north-northeast of Kaohsiung City Hall, at a depth of 7.8km, agency data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in Kaohsiung and Tainan, where it measured a 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale. It also measured a 3 in parts of Chiayi City, as well as Pingtung, Yunlin and Hualien counties, data showed.
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
RSS