Media monopoly in Taiwan

The Korea Times

The Korea Times

Opinion

Wed, December 6, 2023 | 00:58

Letter to the Editor

Media monopoly in Taiwan

Posted : 2012-08-12 17:32

Updated : 2012-08-12 17:32

Intervention in the media has become a big issue in South Korea since MBC went on strike on Jan. 25, followed by KBS, YTN and Yonhap News Agency. Also in neighboring Taiwan, over 700 students gathered in front of CTI, one of the biggest satellite television companies in the country, to express their anger against the media over their growing monopoly and unjust reporting produced by them.

CTI TV is a member of Wang-wang, the largest enterprise involving in food production, hotels and media. Wang-wang owns several TV channels, the China Times, one of the longest published newspapers in Taiwan, and its weekly magazine. Recently, many scholars have been concerned over media concentration problem with Wang-wang’s recent purchases of cable TV dealers. Confronting the criticism from the scholars, Wang-wang has threatened to sue them repeatedly and countered assaults by using the media in its hands. In addition, due to Wang-wang’s intimate relationship with China, it has been confirmed that the Chinese local government has exercised placed marketing to produce news reports that pleased them.

Recently, Huang Guo-Chang, the most famous professor leading the opposition against Wang-wang’s media monopoly, had been accused by the China Times Weekly magazine of gathering students attending the opposing assembly by paying them, but without giving any evidence directly related to him. CTI TV continued to make dozens of attacks toward Huang through their news reports. Later, it was found that the payment was operated purposely by other people, but CTI TV has not apologized to Huang until now.

Furthermore, Chen Wei-Ting, a university student who has issued a personnel comment in which he states that he suspects the payment was instigated by the media group themselves, based on a screenshot from the news video on his Facebook, was sued by the vice editor of the magazine, accusing Chen of deliberately planting stolen goods on him and claiming that Chen’s act was an “organizational conduction.” CTI NEWS kept reporting on this and began smear campaigns on Chen himself, discrediting him as the original photo processor and the one who posted on the Internet in order to defame the media group.

Worried about Wang-wang using its media power to attack any opposing voice and the horrible future of media concentration, the university students decided to show their dissatisfaction and express their belief in freedom of speech by breaking away from the intervention by certain business tycoons

Both South Korea and Taiwan have been deeply affected by the problems of media intervention, the former from the administration, and the latter by tycoons. Being modern democratic states, both the civil society of South Korea and Taiwan should again think over the role that the media is playing in it and the influence it is bringing toward the development of the community.

Yang Chien-Hao
Independent journalist
Jongno, Seoul