SET News has been fined NT$400,000 for erroneously reporting in November last year that former CIA director Gina Haspel was to visit Taiwan, the National Communications Commission said yesterday.
The news channel aired the story on Nov. 22 last year, the commission said.
“SET News did not verify the information with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or other government agencies. It also misled the public by spending significant airtime showing video footage of the former CIA director, which compromised national interests,” the commission said in a statement.
Separately, CTi News has been fined NT$100,000 for disclosing personal data of a person involved in a news story on June 10 last year, in contravention of the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法), the commission said.
CTi News is still operating, despite not being able to broadcast on Channel 52, commission Vice Chairman and spokesperson Wong Po-tsung (翁柏宗) said, adding that the contravention occurred when it still held a satellite broadcasting license, which expired in December last year.
TVBS News has been fined NT$30,000 for contravening the Protection of Children and Youths Welfare and Rights Act (兒童及少年福利與權益保障法) by showing the name and photographs of a child in a news story broadcast on May 22 last year, the commission said.
The commission also asked EBC News and CTi News to address the issues in their coverage of the commission’s decision on Nov. 18 last year to reject CTi News’ license renewal application, although it did not issue any fines.
On Nov. 25 last year, some of the commentators on the EBC News talk show Crucial Time (關鍵時刻) accused commission Chairman Chen Yaw-shyang (陳耀祥) of intervening in the internal operations of CTi News, the commission said.
“Guests in the talk show commented on a news event by citing coverage of other media outlets. The channel should have reviewed and verified those claims, and offered balanced coverage to avoid misleading the public,” it added.
“When covering stories about the channel itself in news programs, CTi News should have observed the principle of fair coverage, presented diverse opinions, avoided emotional statements and verified the facts,” the commission said.
SET News has also been asked to improve its handling of comments about the nation’s vaccine policy by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Central Standing Committee member Sean Lien (連勝文) on its political talk show New Taiwan Refueling (新台灣加油) on Dec. 7 last year.
The channel failed to verify Lien’s claims and the host failed to ask him to cite the basis of his allegations, the commission said.
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