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Business magazine
says 7-Eleven ¡¥censoring¡¦ it
REPERCUSSION?: ¡¥Business Weekly¡¦ finally
appeared on the chain¡¦s shelves yesterday afternoon, but its editor said it had
been shut out because of an article
By Shelley Shan / Staff reporter
One of the nation¡¦s well-known business magazines yesterday accused the 7-Eleven
convenience store chain of boycotting it after it published a story on the
company¡¦s management reshuffle last week¡¦s issue.
Kuo Yi-ling (³¢«Ù§D), editor-in-chief of the Chinese-language Business Weekly
(°Ó·~¶g¥Z) issued a letter saying the nation¡¦s largest convenience store chain had
decided to stop selling the magazine without any advance warning. She said that
magazine did not receive confirmation of the information until 7pm on Wednesday.
¡§The primary culprit was a 422-word story that was about the management
reshuffle at the President Chain Store Corp,¡¨ she said, adding it was the first
time that the magazine was not sold in 7-Elevens since the publication was
founded 25 years ago.
What happened to the magazine was an example of how the chain tries to control
its coverage in the news, she said, a sign that it was not just a conflict
between a store and a media outlet, but represented a threat to Taiwan¡¦s status
of having the freest press in the Chinese-speaking world.
If a publication chooses to be weak in the face of a powerful retailer, the
nation¡¦s freedom of the press will be killed in silence, Kuo said.
¡§It¡¦s a pity that the kind of situation that would happen during the Martial Law
era still happens today,¡¨ she said. ¡§The role of censor, which used to be played
by the Government Information Office, is now taken over by a private chain store
owner that has an annual revenue exceeding NT$100 billion [US$3.45 billion].¡¨
The magazine welcomes any comment or request for corrections, she said, adding
that it would not shun its responsibility if the parties mentioned in the story
decide to sue.
¡§However, we cannot and will not kowtow to any powerful group if it tries to
affect the independence of the news. We must guard the nation¡¦s most precious
soil of freedom,¡¨ she said.
The chain posted an apology on its Facebook page around noon yesterday.
¡§Because of the delay in logistics and delivery service last night [Wednesday],
we were unable to place Business Weekly on shelves on time,¡¨ the company said.
¡§After a quick internal discussion, Business Weekly should be delivered to every
store in the afternoon [yesterday.] We apologize to all the 7-Eleven fans for
any inconvenience caused by the incident.¡¨
However, the apology has failed to appease netizens. Many of them posted
comments saying they did not believe the company¡¦s explanation, given that it
was an established corporation with a strong logistics service. Others posted
that they would not shop at 7-Eleven anymore.
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