The Central News Agency (CNA) yesterday said it has filed a criminal complaint against a former reporter for breach of trust and other offenses, after a local media report linked her to a politicized paparazzi group allegedly organized by Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌).
In addition to the criminal complaint filed with the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office against Hsieh Hsing-en (謝幸恩) yesterday morning, the state-affiliated national news agency said it would file a civil lawsuit against Hsieh for “damage to CNA’s reputation.”
CNA said Hsieh resigned on Monday, but “subsequent media revelations indicated she may have been involved in politicized paparazzi activities and in publishing stories under the pseudonym Hsiao Yi-yi (蕭依依), possibly violating journalistic ethics and CNA’s regulations, and seriously harming the agency’s reputation.”
Photo: Screen grab from the CNA Web site
The Taiwan Alliance for Self-Regulation of Online News urged CNA to investigate the case thoroughly and publish its findings.
CNA, a nonprofit corporation that receives a large share of its funding from the Ministry of Culture, must uphold journalism ethics, the alliance said in a statement, warning that violations involving political figures and pay arrangements would seriously harm media professionalism.
The alliance also urged RW News, which published reports allegedly sourced from the paparazzi group, to explain its ties with Huang and the Taiwan Anti-Corruption and Whistleblower Protection Association (TAWPA), which was founded by Huang, saying that media should avoid becoming political tools.
The latest developments follow a report by news Web site Mirror Daily on Friday last week alleging that Huang in 2022 organized a paparazzi group to follow and photograph political opponents.
The group’s members included former reporters with experience in surveillance, and its first major case targeted then-Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei mayoral candidate Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) in 2022, Mirror Daily said.
The group later received funding through Kai-ssu International, a private company, and several members employed by the company were involved in tailing then-DPP official Wang Yi-chuan (王義川), the report said.
CNA said on Friday last week that it suspended Hsieh from reporting duties immediately after the Mirror Daily report appeared, reassigned her to other work and launched an internal ethics investigation.
On Tuesday, Huang accused Mirror Daily of “smearing the opposition on behalf of the ruling party.”
Speaking at a TPP news conference, he defended Hsieh, saying he was “speechless” at the accusations against her.
Huang also described Mirror Daily as “Taiwan’s biggest paparazzi group” and declined to answer directly whether TAWPA had paid people involved in the alleged group.
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