When Yeh Ming-hsun (葉明勳), the first correspondent sent by the Central News Agency (CNA) in China to Taiwan after World War II, was interviewed by a Chinese-language daily two years ago, he said he had not made enough contributions to journalism in Taiwan.
But the rounds of applause and cheers for him during an honorary doctorate award ceremony at a crowded auditorium at Shih Hsin University (SHU) yesterday morning suggests he was being too humble.
The university yesterday awarded the 96-year-old Yeh its first honorary doctorate since its foundation 52 years ago, a recognition that Yeh originally declined.
PHOTO: WANG MIN-WEI, TAIPEI TIMES
As he stood on the stage before hundreds of attendees, including senior politicians and college students, Yeh said: “Receiving an honorary doctorate at the age of 96, I might be able to be included in Guinness’ World Records.”
Yeh can be considered a legendary figure of Taiwanese journalism and his career reads like a chapter of the country’s media history.
Born in 1913, Yeh’s proficiency in both English and Hoklo helped him become the first CNA correspondent dispatched to Taiwan.
He flew on a military charter flight along with four other reporters from Chongqing to Taiwan on Oct. 5, 1945, where he filed a story on the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government’s official acceptance of Tokyo’s surrender at Taipei’s Zhongshan Hall.
As he was busy filing reports back to Chongqing, Yeh was also tasked with organizing CNA’s Taipei branch after the agency took over the office of Domei Tsushinsha — the official news service of the Japanese government.
lack of funding
The branch was officially opened in February 1946, but operation of the organization was difficult because of lack of funding from CNA headquarters for three consecutive years.
But Yeh still managed to meet branch expenses by spending several tens of thousands of yen left over by the Japanese news agency.
Yeh left CNA in November 1950, after the agency headquarters moved to Taipei, but his journalism career did not end there.
In July 1954, Yeh’s career in newspapers kicked off when he became president of the KMT-owned Chunghwa Daily.
During his four-year term, Yeh reformed the paper, adding sports and entertainment sections while giving importance to columns.
He then served as president of the Independence Evening Post between 1959 and 1965 and acting chairman of the Taiwan Shin Sheng Daily News between 1998 and 1999.
He also expanded his media affiliations to television and radio by serving as supervisor of the Taiwan Television Enterprise and Chengsheng Broadcasting Corp. He was also a co-founder of United Advertising (聯廣公司), the biggest local advertising firm in the country.
While Yeh was developing his professional career, he did not forget to promote journalism education in Taiwan.
In the 1950s, he helped Cheng She-wo (成舍我) establish the Shih Hsin School of Journalism — one of the few journalism schools at that stage of Taiwanese history — and worked as vice president of the school in 1966 and served as chairman of the board of SHU in 1991 and 2006.
“Mr Yeh served journalism and promoted the education of journalists for more than 50 years ... He insisted on his journalistic ideals and played an active role in professional organizations to defend freedom of speech and journalistic ethics,” said James Hsiung (熊杰), dean of SHU’s College of Journalism and Communications.
Yeh is renowned not only for his professional career and promotion of journalistic training but also for his personality.
mediation
Huang Chao-heng (黃肇珩), former director of the CNA domestic news department, once described Yeh as “efficacious,” a compliment of his mediation ability.
Yeh’s six decades in the media have earned him friends across party lines and from all walks of life.
“Many disputes were resolved because of his mediation. We once asked him how he managed to achieve this. He told us if one is calm in mind, one is peaceful in disposition,” SHU chairwoman Cheng Chia-ling (成嘉玲) said.
But this does not mean Yeh was afraid of speaking out, she said.
“In the matter of right and wrong, he usually says what is on his mind instead of making a compromise,” she said.
Yeh’s bold conversation with then-governor of Taiwan Chen Yi (陳儀) right after the 228 Incident -— a massacre in 1947 when KMT troops suppressed a Taiwanese uprising, leaving tens of thousands dead, missing or imprisoned — exemplified Yeh’s character.
Yeh told Chen that he had “failed to impose enough regulations in politics but put too many bans on the economy” during his term in office.
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