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NCC calls on TV news to restrain
disaster coverage
By Shelley Shan / Staff Reporter
The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday called on TV stations to
exercise restraint on the coverage of the disasters in Japan after it received
dozens of complaints from audience members.
NCC Spokesperson Chen Jeng-chang (³¯¥¿Ü) said news stations should not inflate the
volume of disaster coverage by repeatedly airing news that had already been
reported in the past few days.
¡§It could marginalize the coverage of other equally important issues,¡¨ Chen
said. ¡§Audiences may also be emotionally overwhelmed by the disaster information
they see on TV.¡¨
Chen said the commission had laid out guidelines governing the TV broadcasts of
disaster news after the nation was hit by Typhoon Morakot in 2009. He asked TV
stations to exercise self-discipline when reporting disasters.
¡§We hope that the news stations can provide information in ways that help the
public understand the truth based on professional and ethical judgments,¡¨ he
added.
May Chen (³¯¨Ìª´), chairwoman of the self-disciplinary committee at the Satellite
Television Broadcasting Association (STBA), said the association had reminded
its members to heed the -wording used to describe developments at the Fukushima
Dai-ichi nuclear Power plant. They should not describe hydrogen explosions or
fires as nuclear explosions, she said.
Meanwhile, the NCC said it was scheduled to meet with the nation¡¦s telecoms
operators today to discuss the possibility of transmitting disaster warnings via
text-messages.
Chen Jeng-chang said that many were impressed by how the Japanese government was
able to warn its people through text messages 15 seconds before the big seismic
wave struck, but doing that requires the cooperation of telecoms operators.
¡§The nation has 28 million registered phone numbers,¡¨ he said. ¡§We will talk
about how to transmit the message within a short period of time.¡¨
However, Chen Jeng-chang said radio and TV remain the fastest way to send out
information when a natural disaster or an emergency situation occurs. He said
the NCC had amended the relevant information to authorize the government to
draft channels on terrestrial and cable TV to air disaster-prevention
information.
The commission had also allocated six sets of frequencies so that residents in
remote areas could transmit disaster information through radio communications,
he added.
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