The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said it has asked SET News (三立新聞台) to investigate its erroneous reporting on the vote count for Pingtung County commissioner in Saturday’s elections.
The cable news network mixed up the votes for Democratic Progressive Party candidate Chou Chun-mi (周春米) and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) candidate Su Ching-chuan (蘇清泉) onscreen, making it appear as if Chou was trailing Su on the ballot.
Chou won the election with 217,537 votes, surpassing Su by about 11,000 votes, Central Election Commission (CEC) data showed.
Photo: CNA
NCC Vice Chairman Wong Po-tsung (翁柏宗) said that the error was jointly discovered by NCC and CEC officials while monitoring media coverage of election results on Saturday.
“We have recorded the network’s election coverage and turned it over to the CEC, which will determine if it had contravened the Civil Servants Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法),” Wong said.
“Per Article 22 of the Satellite Broadcasting Act (衛星廣播電視法), we will also ask the network to brief us about the situation on election day. Meanwhile, the network’s media ethics committee must conduct an investigation into its election day coverage, publish the investigation report on the network’s Web site and submit the report to the NCC. We will task an independent content review committee to review the report and check if the network has contravened the Satellite Broadcasting Act,” he said.
Based on footage obtained by the NCC, the error occurred at 8:11pm on Saturday and was corrected at 8:12pm, Wong said.
At 8:46 pm, political commentator Cheng Hung-yi (鄭弘儀), who was the host of the SET News’ special election day program, apologized about the error, saying that the network took the mistake seriously, Wong said.
The NCC received 17 election-related complaints, including 12 received before election day and five on election day, Wong said.
The five complaints received on election day were about the Taipei mayoral election: two were on SET News, two on Formosa News and one on ERA News.
Some people watching SET News over the Internet on Saturday said the network seems to have a tendency to inflate the vote.
Votes for DPP Taipei mayoral candidate Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) surged to 376,702 about 100 minutes after polls closed at 4pm, while votes for KMT mayoral candidate Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) hit 399,214.
At the time, the CEC Web site showed Chiang and Chen with 3,492 and 2,811 votes respectively, they said.
FUKUOKA SITUATION: Japanese media reported that the pathogen is expected to be identified by the summer, while the CDC downplayed the idea that it was hMPV A “mysterious cold-like illness” reported in Japan’s Fukuoka Prefecture does not seem to be a new disease, but Japanese authorities have been asked about the situation, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. The Fukuoka Prefectural Medical Association on Wednesday told a news conference that a “mystery cold” that has become a hot topic on social media is “highly likely to be caused by some kind of viral infection,” Japan’s KBC News reported. “Many people are experiencing symptoms starting with a sore throat, followed by a runny nose, phlegm and a severe cough,” KBC News reported, citing association officials. Health authorities are
Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) arrived in Taiwan yesterday ahead of upcoming AI and technology events, saying he plans to meet with clients and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) during his visit. After landing at Taipei Songshan Airport, Huang posed for photos with fans and handed out Yakult drinks to reporters and supporters waiting at the scene, saying he has “a lot to do” during the trip. Asked about reports that Nvidia’s planned headquarters site in Taipei’s Beitou Shilin Technology Park could break ground on May 27, Huang said that if the company holds an event, he would
The Ministry of Finance this afternoon announced the winning numbers for the March-April uniform invoice lottery. The winning number for the NT$10 million (US$318,060) special prize is 19531471, and the winning number for the NT$2 million grand prize is 85941329. Three numbers were drawn for the NT$200,000 first prize: 07225810, 20231230 and 83518781. Those with receipts matching the last seven digits of any of the first-prize numbers will win the NT$40,000 second prize, while those matching the last six digits will win the NT$10,000 third prize. Those whose receipts match the last five digits of the first-prize numbers can claim the NT$4,000 fourth prize,
Taiwan Travelogue (臺灣漫遊錄), which earlier this week became the first Taiwanese novel to win the International Booker Prize, is to be adapted into a television series through a Taiwan-Japan coproduction, producer Chang Chen-yu (張辰漁) said yesterday. Chang, a producer at World Softest Production Film Co, wrote on Facebook that the company had been searching for projects with international appeal that retain a strong Taiwanese identity after colleagues and Japanese partners strongly recommended the novel. After reading the book, Chang said he immediately decided to pursue the screen rights. “A great story has the power to transcend time and borders, and connect countless people,”