Students from four top journalism schools on Thursday urged lawmakers to pass a media bargaining bill, including a journalism development fund.
The absence of such legislation has contributed to a deteriorating media environment that could undermine Taiwan’s democracy, the students from National Taiwan University, National Chengchi University, National Taiwan Normal University and Fu Jen Catholic University told a news conference in Taipei.
News firms are increasingly being forced to sacrifice depth and quality of reporting in exchange for traffic and advertising revenue, they said, citing the dominance of social media and their algorithms.
Photo: CNA
The situation makes it alluring to write clickbait headlines and shallow content, which sidelines media firms and makes them vulnerable to interventions by the government and large corporations, said Cheng Hsin (程心), a student at National Chengchi University.
The ability of media to serve as an independent fourth estate is at risk, Cheng said.
Kuo Ssu-hsien (郭思嫻) of Fu Jen Catholic University said that a journalism development fund is necessary.
The fund could be financed through taxes on digital advertising revenue from global platforms or through donations from businesses, government agencies and private entities, Kuo said.
The fund should be managed by an independent committee and used to support investigative reporting, while ensuring that media firms of all sizes can operate sustainably, she said.
The students’ call echoed a petition — which garnered more than 1,500 signatures in 10 days — launched in the middle of June by members of Taiwan’s journalism and academic communities.
At about the same time, Minister of Digital Affairs Yennun Huang (黃彥男) said that the ministry aims to present its own version of the bill by the end of this year.
However, Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Lin Kuo-chen (林國成), who chairs the legislature’s Transportation Committee, urged the ministry to act swiftly due to the urgency of the issue.
The committee would proceed with the draft bills already submitted and seek majority consensus if the ministry fails to submit a version soon, Lin said, adding that the goal is to finalize the text by the end of the year.
The current legislative session, which has been extended twice, is scheduled to conclude on Aug. 31.
Lawmakers failed to reach a consensus when the Transportation and the Education and Culture committees on Wednesday held a joint meeting to review the bill.
Cross-party negotiations are to be conducted over the wording.
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