Public Television Service (PTS), Chinese Television System (CTS) and Broadcasting Corp of China (BCC) have all pledged to produce objective, fair and thorough news coverage of campaigns for next month’s presidential and legislative elections in accordance with government regulations, despite some people with top positions at the networks being candidates, the National Communications Commission (NCC) said yesterday.
BCC chairman and general manager Jaw Shaw-kong (趙少康) has registered as the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) vice presidential candidate, while PTS board director Karen Hsu (徐瑞希) has been nominated as a legislator-at-large by the Taiwan People’s Party. Hsu also oversees CTS on behalf of PTS.
The commission on Wednesday last week contacted the three networks, asking them to explain within a week how they plan to abide by the Presidential and Vice Presidential Election and Recall Act (總統副總統選舉罷免法), the Public Officials Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法) and the Enforcement Rules of the Radio and Television Act (廣播電視法施行細則), and ensure that they treat all political parties and their candidates equally.
Photo: Chen Hsin-yu, Taipei Times
The commission said it had received official responses from all three by yesterday afternoon.
“They said they would obey laws and are committed to producing news about the elections in an objective, accurate, fair and just manner,” the commission said.
The BCC said that it would keep the pledges it had made on June 25, 2007, to the commission and ensure that its news coverage is not influenced by the government, political parties or the military, the NCC said.
The BCC’s news department does not take instructions from its management, nor has management interfered in the news department’s operations, it said.
Jaw’s positions at the BCC have been temporarily assumed by BCC board trustee Chen Sheng-yi (陳聖一), while PTS and CTS said that Hsu resigned from its board on Friday last week, the commission said.
Separately, broadcast media and cable systems might soon be asked by major shareholders to report any share transactions following proposed amendments to broadcasting laws, the NCC said.
The issue came under scrutiny after three of Homeplus Digital’s major shareholders sold their shares — nearly 50 percent of all shares — to Sanlih Entertainment Television (SET TV) chairman Chang Rong-hua (張榮華).
Homeplus failed to abide by one of the pledges it made in 2018 when the commission approved the sale of the multiple system operator to its current management, which bans its shareholders from operating news channels, the NCC said.
Homeplus was given one year to rectify the situation, it said.
The NCC is still deliberating the penalties for SET TV and Homeplus, NCC Vice Chairman Wong Po-tsung (翁柏宗) said.
The commission would propose two main bills next year, including an Internet audiovisual service draft act, as well as amendments to the Radio and Television Act (廣播電視法), the Satellite Broadcasting Act (衛星廣播電視法) and the Cable Radio and Television Act (有線廣播電視法), Wong said.
The amendments would ensure that regulations are consistent with one another, he said.
For example, “although the Satellite Broadcasting Act requires cable news channels to verify facts before airing programs, the Radio and Television Act does not require terrestrial news channels to abide by the same requirement,” he said.
“To address controversies involving Homeplus, our legal experts are to study whether transparency in the shareholding structure should be listed as an important requirement for cable system operators in the Cable Radio and Television Act,” Wong said.
AGING: While Japan has 22 submarines, Taiwan only operates four, two of which were commissioned by the US in 1945 and 1946, and transferred to Taiwan in 1973 Taiwan would need at least 12 submarines to reach modern fleet capabilities, CSBC Corp, Taiwan chairman Chen Cheng-hung (陳政宏) said in an interview broadcast on Friday, citing a US assessment. CSBC is testing the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, Narwhal), which is scheduled to be delivered to the navy next month or in July. The Hai Kun has completed torpedo-firing tests and is scheduled to undergo overnight sea trials, Chen said on an SET TV military affairs program. Taiwan would require at least 12 submarines to establish a modern submarine force after assessing the nation’s operational environment and defense
Yangmingshan National Park authorities yesterday urged visitors to respect public spaces and obey the law after a couple was caught on a camera livestream having sex at the park’s Qingtiangang (擎天崗) earlier in the day. The Shilin Police Precinct in Taipei said it has identified a suspect and his vehicle registration number, and would summon him for questioning. The case would be handled in accordance with public indecency charges, it added. The couple entered the park at about 11pm on Thursday and began fooling around by 1am yesterday, the police said, adding that the two were unaware of the park’s all-day live
The coast guard today said that it had disrupted "illegal" operations by a Chinese research ship in waters close to the nation and driven it away, part of what Taipei sees a provocative pattern of China's stepped up maritime activities. The coast guard said that it on Thursday last week detected the Chinese ship Tongji (同濟號), which was commissioned only last year, 29 nautical miles (54km) southeast of the southern tip of Taiwan, although just outside restricted waters. The ship was observed lowering ropes into the water, suspected to be the deployment of scientific instruments for "illegal" survey operations, and the coast
A former soldier and an active-duty army officer were yesterday indicted for allegedly selling classified military training materials to a Chinese intelligence operative for a total of NT$79,440. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office indicted Chen Tai-yin (陳泰尹) and Lee Chun-ta (李俊達) for contravening the National Security Act (國家安全法) and the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例). Chen left the military in September 2013 after serving alongside then-staff sergeant Lee, now an army lieutenant, at the 21st Artillery Command of the army’s Sixth Corps from 2011 to 2013, according to the indictment. Chen met a Chinese intelligence operative identified as “Wang” (王) through a friend in November
RSS