The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday approved Mirror Media’s application to establish Mirror News (鏡電視) after reviewing the case for more than two years, provided it strictly follows 26 obligations and conditions set by the commission.
It is the first TV news license that the broadcast media regulator has issued in nearly 10 years.
Mirror Media said in a statement that it welcomed the decision and respects the conditions set by the NCC, as it aims to produce quality and diverse news content as stated in its business plan.
Photo: CNA
NCC Vice Chairman and spokesman Wong Po-tsung (翁柏宗) said that the approval came with 12 attached obligations and 14 conditions under which the commission’s ruling could be invalidated.
In addition, the commission listed 16 other items as “administrative guidance” to be implemented to oversee the operation of Mirror News, he said.
A majority of the obligations and conditions are already stated in Mirror News’ business plan, Department of Broadcasting and Content Affairs Director-General Huang Wen-che (黃文哲) said.
“NCC commissioners added only two other conditions: First, the news channel must not accept direct or indirect instructions, investments or sponsorships from any foreign influence against Taiwan, as stipulated in the Anti-Infiltration Act (反滲透法). Second, any interactions that the news channel would have with the Chinese government and its people should be within boundaries set by the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (台灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例),” Huang said.
According to the commission’s ruling, the news channel pledged to maintain a clear separation between the ownership and management, and follow journalism guidelines in producing quality and diverse news quality.
It also pledged to increase the number of staff in the news department to at least 450 within three months after the channel starts broadcasting on cable. It further promised not to share the use of personnel with other media outlets in the Mirror Media group.
Mirror TV is also committed to airing daily one hour of art and entertainment news and two hours of Taiwanese-language news. It is to broadcast two to four hours of news concerning children and teenagers per week.
In addition, the news channel plans to budget at least NT$50 million (US$1.8 million) per year in the production and broadcast of international news, and to have foreign correspondents stationed in Europe and the US, the NCC said.
International news is to account for 15 percent of the channel’s daily news content, the commission said, adding that the channel is to air a one-hour program per day on international news features.
Half of the channel’s board members must be non-shareholders, it said, adding that personnel representing Mirror Media must neither serve on the channel’s board nor be part of its management.
Each shareholder must limit their stake in the channel to not more than 15 percent, it said.
The channel must also increase its registered capital from about NT$1.35 billion to NT$2 billion within three months after receiving its license. The license is valid for six years, and the channel is to start broadcasting on cable three to six months after obtaining its license.
The ruling was not unanimously supported by all seven commissioners, with two of them preparing to write a letter of dissent, a source told the Taipei Times.
The two commissioners said the channel offers content that is no different from that of other cable news channels and questioned whether it has sustainable funding to produce quality news as it promised, the source said.
“Although Taiwan has many news channels, the fierce competition has brought nothing but similar content and low-quality products. News channels fail to generate sufficient profits to sustain themselves and rely largely on income from doing government-funded projects. In the long run, this would compromise the independence of journalism and affect society and democracy in Taiwan,” they said.
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
The first bluefin tuna of the season, brought to shore in Pingtung County and weighing 190kg, was yesterday auctioned for NT$10,600 (US$333.5) per kilogram, setting a record high for the local market. The auction was held at the fish market in Donggang Fishing Harbor, where the Siaoliouciou Island-registered fishing vessel Fu Yu Ching No. 2 delivered the “Pingtung First Tuna” it had caught for bidding. Bidding was intense, and the tuna was ultimately jointly purchased by a local restaurant and a local company for NT$10,600 per kilogram — NT$300 ,more than last year — for a total of NT$2.014 million. The 67-year-old skipper
BREACH OF CONTRACT: The bus operators would seek compensation and have demanded that the manufacturer replace the chips with ones that meet regulations Two bus operators found to be using buses with China-made chips are to demand that the original manufacturers replace the systems and provide compensation for breach of contract, the Veterans Affairs Council said yesterday. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) yesterday said that Da Nan Bus Co and Shin-Shin Bus Co Ltd have fielded a total of 82 buses that are using Chinese chips. The bus models were made by Tron-E, while the systems provider was CYE Electronics, Lin said. Lin alleged that the buses were using chips manufactured by Huawei subsidiary HiSilicon Co, which presents a national security risk if the
RSS