NCC says pundits not being targeted
　

By Shelley Shan
STAFF REPORTER
Friday, Feb 06, 2009, Page 1

The National Communications Commission (NCC) said yesterday that there was no “pundit clause” in its proposed amendment to the Satellite Radio and Television Act (衛星廣播電視法).

NCC spokesperson Lee Ta-sung (李大嵩) said Article 20 of the proposed law stipulated that satellite radio and television service operators should follow the principles of fact-checking and equality when producing and broadcasting news or commentary. That was an expectation set by the law, he said.

“The article does not target any particular program,” Lee said.

The commission made the comments in response to an article in yesterday’s Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) that said Article 20 was the commission’s way of gagging pundits.

In the newspaper article, political commentators slammed the plan as a violation of the freedom of expression.

Former Cabinet spokesman Shieh Jhy-wey (謝志偉), host of Formosa TV’s political commentary show Boss Talk (頭家來開講), called the move “a joke.” He said the amendment would not affect what he says on the show, and added that the NCC was composed of pan-blue members and has its own bias.

Chen Li-hung (陳立宏), a political commentator, said he felt “angry, upset and deep regret” about the planned amendment.

The NCC should pay more attention to justice and fairness in society, rather than what people say on TV, he said.

“The NCC has become a tool that the government uses to control opposition voices,” Chen said. “Criticism of the government is already weak. Is [President] Ma Ying-jeou’s [馬英九] government really so intolerant?”

Political commentators Yang Hsien-hung (楊憲宏) and Chin Heng-wei (金恆煒) both said they thought that the move was unconstitutional and unnecessary.

As inappropriate comments made on TV can be sanctioned through judicial processes, the NCC — as part of the executive branch — should not try to address an issue that falls under the jurisdiction of the judiciary, Yang said.

Political commentator Huang Kuang-chin (黃光芹) said he believed any political commentator who makes groundless accusations would eventually fall out of favor with viewers.

NCC commissioner Weng Hsiao-ling (翁曉玲) said that the law would only penalize those “producing and broadcasting” news if they did not check their facts. Violators may be fined between NT$300,000 (US$8,900) and NT$2 million.

It would not penalize comments made by pundits during shows, she said.

“Statements are either true or false, but comments can be purely subjective,” she said. “Commentators are entitled to give remarks based on evidence or facts that they deem credible.”

Another NCC commissioner, Chung Chi-hui (鍾起惠) said reporters and television news channels should check “facts” provided by pundits and find out whether they are accurate, she said.

“Isn’t that among the basic skills taught in journalism school?” Chung said.

Chung cited the example of a firefighter who was reported to have died while trying to find victims of the Houfeng Bridge collapse last year. The reports were eventually found to be false, but TVBS, SET News (三立新聞) and ERA News (年代新聞) had all reported the “death” as a confirmed fact.

“When the commission investigated, TVBS said their local reporters received their information from volunteers in the fire department, whereas SET and ERA said their source was TVBS,” Chung said.

NCC vice chairman Chen Jeng-chang (陳正倉) said “fact-checking” and “citing” facts are essentially two different things. He said “fact-checking” requires reporters to personally contact the relevant individuals and organizations to verify facts, but “citing” means that reporters simply use facts from other news organizations, although they may prove to be false.

Chung said that the law would also ban the placement of government-sponsored advertisements on news channels and on those for children and young adults.

However, the law would allow the government to buy time on channels not falling into these categories to promote policies, provided that channels clearly inform viewers that the programs are funded or sponsored by government organizations.

Meanwhile, Article 17 of the amended law states that satellite news organizations should establish their own ethics committees to self-regulate news quality.

When asked why the commission felt the need to regulate TV news organizations using the law when the Civil Code and TV stations self-regulatory mechanisms were already supposed to ensure the quality of news, Chung replied by asking if everybody was satisfied with the quality of TV news and said that the answer was obvious.

As the amended law would also allow civic groups to participate in the content review committee, which the NCC normally entrusts to review cases, some have questioned whether the commission has a way to ensure that rulings are not tainted by the agendas of such groups.

“I believe all the representatives would be from organizations with legitimate authority,” she said. “Who will oversee their judgment? I think God and conscience.”

Asked for comment, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus deputy secretary-general Lo Shu-lei (羅淑蕾) praised the proposed amendment, saying that punishing political commentators who fail to present evidence to back their claims would help prevent them from making groundless accusations.

“Although political commentators enjoy freedom of speech, they cannot infringe upon others’ freedom or violate others’ human rights,” she said.

“Political talk shows should not harm others [by allowing commentators to make groundless accusations] just because the programs are trying to increase viewer numbers ... Groundless accusations should be liable to punishment,” she said.

However, KMT Legislator Chiu Yi (邱毅), a regular guest on such talk shows, criticized the proposed amendment as “redundant.”

Chiu said the proposed amendment was unnecessary because the Criminal Code (刑法) already stipulated punishment for those who made defamatory accusations against others.

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) yesterday said her caucus was opposed to the draft amendment, panning it as targeting the pan-green camp.

The proposed amendment aims to restrict political commentators who harbor sympathy toward the pan-green camp from criticizing the KMT government, she said.

　

KMT rolling back media freedom

Friday, Feb 06, 2009, Page 8

It appears as if the National Communications Commission (NCC) has been added to the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government’s armory in its battle to neuter the media and stifle criticism of the current administration’s shortcomings.

This became apparent after the NCC on Tuesday singled out SET TV’s political chat show Da Hua News (大話新聞, or “Talking Show”) for censure.

The commission’s failure to produce evidence of the show’s alleged transgressions speaks volumes for the professionalism of a body that was ruled “unconstitutional” by the Council of Grand Justices in 2006 and, despite cosmetic changes, still leaves major doubts hanging over its neutrality.

The NCC’s rebuke also comes just a month after Talking Show cut its weekend programs as part of a “cost-cutting” exercise. News of the cut came shortly after a raid on the home of the channel’s president by Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau officials.

Rumors that the show’s popular host, Cheng Hung-yi (鄭弘儀), would be replaced or that the show might be dropped altogether — a strange move considering it is rated the nation’s most popular political talk show — had to be scotched by station officials at the company’s year-end party.

Add to this Wednesday’s NCC-proposed amendment to the Satellite Radio and Television Act (衛星廣播電視法) that would set stricter fact-checking regulations on such shows and see repeat offenders removed from the airwaves, and it could be interpreted as part of a concerted attack on one of the most vocal critics of government policy.

This seems even more the case when one considers that government-friendly political talk shows that present gossip and rumor as fact on a daily basis have not come in for similar criticism and treatment.

While the NCC may receive complaints from viewers unhappy with the subject or content discussed on any particular show, if the views presented on air are backed up with facts and figures then there should be no case to answer, regardless of the sensitivities of viewers.

The media’s right to broadcast opinions should be judged on whether what is said is based on fact, not on whether certain sections of the public disagree with it. This is at the heart of the NCC’s proposed amendment, but whether any law will be applied evenhandedly or just used to attack government critics remains to be seen.

Who would have imagined that when President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) praised Singapore’s government during a visit in 2007 that, once back in power, he and his party would use the “rule of law” as a premise to replicate Singapore’s infamously sanitized, ­government-controlled news media?

But with the well-documented government interference in the affairs of the Central News Agency, Radio Taiwan International and Public Television Services as evidence, and now the pressure being ratcheted up on Talking Show, things certainly seem to be heading in that direction.

While he was in Singapore, Ma also said that Taiwan was different because it emphasized democracy. Ma should know that media freedom is vital to the survival of any democracy, especially one where a single party has a vice-like grip on all the instruments of state.

That is, unless his administration is intent on rolling back Taiwan’s democracy in the same way it is rolling back its media freedom.