Academics and representatives of various non-governmental organizations (NGOs) yesterday voiced their worries about the buyout of Next Media Group’s (壹傳媒集團) Taiwanese operations, urging the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) to consider the importance of having diverse voices in the media when reviewing the deal.
At a public hearing organized by the commission yesterday, former FTC commissioner Shih Jun-ji (施俊吉) said the review of the Next Media buyout is the most important case in the commission’s history.
Shih said the commission should spare no effort to prevent buyers from circumventing the law, adding that the Fair Trade Act (公平交易法) stipulates that the commission should not only take into consideration the benefit to the economy as a whole, but also the public interest.
Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Taipei Times
In terms of the public interest, the government should create an environment that allows newspapers to produce materials from as many perspectives as possible, while the accuracy of news is also of vital importance, he said.
There is no economic benefit for society from the deal, while the disadvantages that will result from it are that the public will only be given limited perspectives on events in the future, Shih said, adding that there is no reason for the commission to approve the deal.
Association of Taiwan Journalists (ATJ) president Chen Hsiao-yi (陳曉宜) emphasized the unique nature of the media as a means for the public to obtain information. She demanded that the FTC’s commissioners review the case differently from other cases.
Chen said the print media have agenda-setting power for the entire media industry and have often dictated what news is broadcast on local TV stations the following day.
Therefore, because of the influence print media have, it is not sufficient for the commission to make a decision based on market share alone, she said.
Citing a survey conducted by AC Nielsen, Jang Show-ling (鄭秀玲), a professor of economics at National Taiwan University, said Want Want China Times Group’s (旺旺中時集團) share of Taiwan’s media market would exceed 50 percent after the buyout deal goes through.
As Want Want Group has a record of using its media outlets to attack its critics or those who stand in its way, Jang said the disadvantages resulting from the Next Media deal are too significant to be ignored.
Jang became emotional when she said that she had to stay alert on the street because of her involvement in the case.
FTC spokesman Sun Lih-chyun (孫立群) said that the commission would try to incorporate the importance of diverse voices on the media into their review process.
Sun said the information the commission has now suggests that there are two groups of buyers and two contracts. One is related to Next Media’s print media and the other to its electronic media.
The commission has yet to receive a formal submission of the deal, he said.
‘TAIWAN-FRIENDLY’: The last time the Web site fact sheet removed the lines on the US not supporting Taiwanese independence was during the Biden administration in 2022 The US Department of State has removed a statement on its Web site that it does not support Taiwanese independence, among changes that the Taiwanese government praised yesterday as supporting Taiwan. The Taiwan-US relations fact sheet, produced by the department’s Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, previously stated that the US opposes “any unilateral changes to the status quo from either side; we do not support Taiwan independence; and we expect cross-strait differences to be resolved by peaceful means.” In the updated version published on Thursday, the line stating that the US does not support Taiwanese independence had been removed. The updated
‘CORRECT IDENTIFICATION’: Beginning in May, Taiwanese married to Japanese can register their home country as Taiwan in their spouse’s family record, ‘Nikkei Asia’ said The government yesterday thanked Japan for revising rules that would allow Taiwanese nationals married to Japanese citizens to list their home country as “Taiwan” in the official family record database. At present, Taiwanese have to select “China.” Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said the new rule, set to be implemented in May, would now “correctly” identify Taiwanese in Japan and help protect their rights, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. The statement was released after Nikkei Asia reported the new policy earlier yesterday. The name and nationality of a non-Japanese person marrying a Japanese national is added to the
AT RISK: The council reiterated that people should seriously consider the necessity of visiting China, after Beijing passed 22 guidelines to punish ‘die-hard’ separatists The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has since Jan. 1 last year received 65 petitions regarding Taiwanese who were interrogated or detained in China, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. Fifty-two either went missing or had their personal freedoms restricted, with some put in criminal detention, while 13 were interrogated and temporarily detained, he said in a radio interview. On June 21 last year, China announced 22 guidelines to punish “die-hard Taiwanese independence separatists,” allowing Chinese courts to try people in absentia. The guidelines are uncivilized and inhumane, allowing Beijing to seize assets and issue the death penalty, with no regard for potential
‘UNITED FRONT’ FRONTS: Barring contact with Huaqiao and Jinan universities is needed to stop China targeting Taiwanese students, the education minister said Taiwan has blacklisted two Chinese universities from conducting academic exchange programs in the nation after reports that the institutes are arms of Beijing’s United Front Work Department, Minister of Education Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) said in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) published yesterday. China’s Huaqiao University in Xiamen and Quanzhou, as well as Jinan University in Guangzhou, which have 600 and 1,500 Taiwanese on their rolls respectively, are under direct control of the Chinese government’s political warfare branch, Cheng said, citing reports by national security officials. A comprehensive ban on Taiwanese institutions collaborating or
RSS