The first reaction among many of my colleagues to the Government Information Office's (GIO) announcement on Monday that our ETTV News-S channel's license would not be renewed was shock, and then anger and a desire to stage a street protest.
It should go without saying that this is a media freedom issue and we would be justified in taking to the streets. The problem is that the GIO is half right. There is too much sensationalism in Taiwan's news media and our news channels have been part of the problem. There are many aspects of this decision that we do not agree with, but at the end of a post-midnight huddle, we decided to take our lumps and try to learn from this experience -- and to make a commitment that will hopefully improve the overall quality of news channels.
Eastern Broadcasting Co (EBC, which operates the ETTV channels) will abide by the law and we will appeal a decision we believe to be flawed, but we've also decided that the GIO has made some points that we would do well to heed.
In your editorial ("Taiwan's media needs discipline," Aug. 2, page 8), you conclude that you "hope that media proprietors or managers can adopt criteria for dealing with news coverage or programs in a professional and self-disciplined manner to win the support of the general public." We are doing just that.
Like all TV operators in Taiwan, we have wrestled with a desire to produce first-rate news and analysis while dealing with minute-by-minute ratings pressure to show sensationalistic content (which provide a ratings boost). Like our competitors, in far too many instances we have taken the sensationalistic route.
Now, our very survival is at stake. The GIO has made it clear that ETTV News' license renewal is conditional on improving the quality of news coverage and putting self-discipline mechanisms into place. Even as we try to appeal the loss of our other news channel's license, ETTV News will follow through on a promise to be a more responsible news provider and we will try to convince our competitors to join us in establishing an electronic media self-monitoring organization.
For many of us at EBC, it is with one part anxiety and one part excitement that we embark on this mission to develop a more mature and responsible brand of media freedom. Will our changes gain the support of the general public, or will we suffer reduced ratings? ETTV News-S is no longer available, but ETTV News is still on cable. Please stay tuned to watch this story unfold.
Jacques van Wersch
Taipei
Concerns that the US might abandon Taiwan are often overstated. While US President Donald Trump’s handling of Ukraine raised unease in Taiwan, it is crucial to recognize that Taiwan is not Ukraine. Under Trump, the US views Ukraine largely as a European problem, whereas the Indo-Pacific region remains its primary geopolitical focus. Taipei holds immense strategic value for Washington and is unlikely to be treated as a bargaining chip in US-China relations. Trump’s vision of “making America great again” would be directly undermined by any move to abandon Taiwan. Despite the rhetoric of “America First,” the Trump administration understands the necessity of
US President Donald Trump’s challenge to domestic American economic-political priorities, and abroad to the global balance of power, are not a threat to the security of Taiwan. Trump’s success can go far to contain the real threat — the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) surge to hegemony — while offering expanded defensive opportunities for Taiwan. In a stunning affirmation of the CCP policy of “forceful reunification,” an obscene euphemism for the invasion of Taiwan and the destruction of its democracy, on March 13, 2024, the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) used Chinese social media platforms to show the first-time linkage of three new
The military is conducting its annual Han Kuang exercises in phases. The minister of national defense recently said that this year’s scenarios would simulate defending the nation against possible actions the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) might take in an invasion of Taiwan, making the threat of a speculated Chinese invasion in 2027 a heated agenda item again. That year, also referred to as the “Davidson window,” is named after then-US Indo-Pacific Command Admiral Philip Davidson, who in 2021 warned that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) had instructed the PLA to be ready to invade Taiwan by 2027. Xi in 2017
Sasha B. Chhabra’s column (“Michelle Yeoh should no longer be welcome,” March 26, page 8) lamented an Instagram post by renowned actress Michelle Yeoh (楊紫瓊) about her recent visit to “Taipei, China.” It is Chhabra’s opinion that, in response to parroting Beijing’s propaganda about the status of Taiwan, Yeoh should be banned from entering this nation and her films cut off from funding by government-backed agencies, as well as disqualified from competing in the Golden Horse Awards. She and other celebrities, he wrote, must be made to understand “that there are consequences for their actions if they become political pawns of