National Communications Commission (NCC) Chairman Chen Yaw-shyang (陳耀祥) does not intervene in the preliminary reviews of applications to establish cable news channels, the regulator said yesterday in response to a report that Chen was advocating for the approval of a Mirror Media application.
The Chinese-language United Daily News yesterday reported that the media group had a good chance of securing preliminary approval for its Mirror TV.
Citing an insider source, the report said that Chen was working to ensure the application would obtain a majority of votes among an external expert review committee, which was to meet yesterday.
The NCC said the report was false.
Mirror Media first filed an application to establish a news channel in December 2019, but withdrew it this year and submitted a new one in May, the commission said, adding that outside experts were reviewing the new application.
“The NCC respects experts’ opinions and has never intervened in committee meetings,” the commission said.
“After the case is reviewed by outside experts, it would be deliberated again by NCC commissioners, when the management of the media group would be invited to answer questions,” it said, adding that it does not set a deadline by which the review must be completed.
“We would not give special treatment to any specific news channel, and it is regrettable that some news media would characterize the review procedures this way,” it added.
Mirror Media had its first setback in August last year, when external experts recommended that the NCC reject its application for a news channel. After the group submitted supplementary information, NCC commissioners on Jan. 20 began deliberating the case.
During the January meeting, then-Mirror TV chairman Pei Wei (裴偉) said the channel would not air political talk shows during prime time, adding that it would retain National Chengchi University adjunct professor Weng Shieu-chi (翁秀琪) as a full-time ombudsman to monitor news quality, a position that does not exist at other Taiwanese news channels.
The group also assured the NCC that the news channel and its weekly magazine would operate separately, with different shareholders, board directors and content.
Audio-visual content shown on the magazine’s Web site would not be aired on the TV channel, it added.
Pei resigned in May and was succeeded by former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator Chen Chien -ping (陳建平). The move was interpreted by some as a way for the channel to secure approval faster.
NCC Vice Chairman Wong Po-tsung (翁柏宗) said the commission would review Mirror Media’s application based on criteria in the Satellite Broadcasting Act (衛星廣播電視法), adding that he cannot comment on any pending case.
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