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.
The Taipei Summer Festival is to begin tomorrow at Dadaocheng Wharf (大稻埕), featuring four themed firework shows and five live music performances throughout the month, the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism said today. The festival in the city’s Datong District (大同) is to run until Aug. 30, holding firework displays on Wednesdays and the final Saturday of the event. The first show is scheduled for tomorrow, followed by Aug. 13, 20 and 30. To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Disney Pixar's movie Toy Story, the festival has partnered with Walt Disney Co (Taiwan) to host a special themed area on
BE CAREFUL: The virus rarely causes severe illness or death, but newborns, older people and those with medical conditions are at risk of more severe illness As more than 7,000 cases of chikungunya fever have been reported in China’s Guangdong Province this year, including 2,892 new cases last week, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday said it is monitoring the situation and considering raising the travel notice level, which might be announced today. The CDC issued a level 1 travel notice, or “watch,” for Guangdong Province on July 22, citing an outbreak in Foshan, a manufacturing hub in the south of the province, that was reported early last month. Between July 27 and Saturday, the province reported 2,892 new cases of chikungunya, reaching a total of 7,716
Aftershocks from a magnitude 6.2 earthquake that struck off Yilan County at 3:45pm yesterday could reach a magnitude of 5 to 5.5, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Seismological Center technical officer Chiu Chun-ta (邱俊達) told a news conference that the epicenter of the temblor was more than 100km from Taiwan. Although predicted to measure between magnitude 5 and 5.5, the aftershocks would reach an intensity of 1 on Taiwan’s 7-tier scale, which gauges the actual effect of an earthquake, he said. The earthquake lasted longer in Taipei because the city is in a basin, he said. The quake’s epicenter was about 128.9km east-southeast
STAY VIGILANT: People should reduce the risk of chronic liver inflammation by avoiding excessive alcohol consumption, smoking and eating pickled foods, the physician said A doctor last week urged people to look for five key warning signs of acute liver failure after popular producer-turned-entertainer Shen Yu-lin (沈玉琳) was reportedly admitted to an intensive care unit for fulminant hepatitis. Fulminant hepatitis is the rapid and massive death of liver cells, impairing the organ’s detoxification, metabolic, protein synthesis and bile production functions, which if left untreated has a mortality rate as high as 80 percent, according to the Web site of Advancing Clinical Treatment of Liver Disease, an international organization focused on liver disease prevention and treatment. People with hepatitis B or C are at higher risk of
RSS