The China Times Group lashed out at the National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday over the conditions it imposed when approving the group’s management reshuffle at China Television Co and CTi TV last Wednesday.
The group ran front-page advertisements in two Chinese-language newspapers yesterday, the China Times and Apple Daily, asking the commission to apply the same conditions on other TV stations.
“If the NCC has problems meeting this demand, it should withdraw the ruling, which was a clear abuse of its power,” the ads read.
The ads singled out three NCC members — Wen Hsiao-ling (翁曉玲), Chung Chi-hui (鍾起惠) and National Communications Commission Vice Chairman Chen Jeng-chang (陳正倉) — and said they would be responsible for any consequences of the ruling because they had asked for a hearing on the case and had swayed the other members.
Photos of the three were made to look like those that accompany the National Police Agency’s most wanted list.
The NCC condemned the ad during a press conference yesterday afternoon.
National Communications Commission Chairwoman Bonnie Peng (彭芸) said the commission had been very cautious when it reviewed the group’s application to overhaul the management of the two stations.
CTV was a terrestrial TV channel, while CTi was a cable TV station, she said.
“This case involves a media conglomerate that owns a newspaper and two television services,” she said.
“Academics have had many discussions on whether media ownership should be regulated and whether it should be done loosely or strictly,” she said.
“We welcome discussion that focuses on government policy,” she said. “Using a tactic [like the ad] that is meant to divide the commissioners is immoral. I’ll just use this word, ‘immoral.’”
Peng said the media was both an industry and a public asset, which was why many countries were cautious when handling media issues.
“When Rupert Murdoch, an Australian, wanted to acquire media outlets in the UK and US, both countries held hearings and heard testimony to ensure that the acquisitions would not jeopardize the diversity of public opinion,” Peng said. “The China Times Group ruling was not targeting Mr Tsai Eng-meng (蔡衍明) [the group’s new owner] or his family.”
Peng also dismissed reports in the China Times that she was in the process of writing a dissent criticizing the case.
Reporters from CTV, CTi TV and the Chinese-language Commercial Daily — another member of the China Times Group’s stable — questioned the legality of the conditions set by the commission.
A Commercial Daily reporter tried to read a statement issued by the group’s new management but was reprimanded by other reporters.
In its statement, the commission said it held the hearing in accordance with the Broadcasting and Television Act (廣播電視法), while the conditions it set followed the rules in the Administrative Procedural Act (行政程序法).
“Should the group refuse to accept the conditions, it could file an administrative lawsuit against the National Communications Commission and seek protection from the judicial system,” the statement said.
Death row inmate Huang Lin-kai (黃麟凱), who was convicted for the double murder of his former girlfriend and her mother, is to be executed at the Taipei Detention Center tonight, the Ministry of Justice announced. Huang, who was a military conscript at the time, was convicted for the rape and murder of his ex-girlfriend, surnamed Wang (王), and the murder of her mother, after breaking into their home on Oct. 1, 2013. Prosecutors cited anger over the breakup and a dispute about money as the motives behind the double homicide. This is the first time that Minister of Justice Cheng Ming-chien (鄭銘謙) has
BITTERLY COLD: The inauguration ceremony for US president-elect Donald Trump has been moved indoors due to cold weather, with the new venue lacking capacity A delegation of cross-party lawmakers from Taiwan, led by Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), for the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump, would not be able to attend the ceremony, as it is being moved indoors due to forecasts of intense cold weather in Washington tomorrow. The inauguration ceremony for Trump and US vice president-elect JD Vance is to be held inside the Capitol Rotunda, which has a capacity of about 2,000 people. A person familiar with the issue yesterday said although the outdoor inauguration ceremony has been relocated, Taiwan’s legislative delegation has decided to head off to Washington as scheduled. The delegation
TRANSPORT CONVENIENCE: The new ticket gates would accept a variety of mobile payment methods, and buses would be installed with QR code readers for ease of use New ticketing gates for the Taipei metro system are expected to begin service in October, allowing users to swipe with cellphones and select credit cards partnered with Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC), the company said on Tuesday. TRTC said its gates in use are experiencing difficulty due to their age, as they were first installed in 2007. Maintenance is increasingly expensive and challenging as the manufacturing of components is halted or becoming harder to find, the company said. Currently, the gates only accept EasyCard, iPass and electronic icash tickets, or one-time-use tickets purchased at kiosks, the company said. Since 2023, the company said it
Another wave of cold air would affect Taiwan starting from Friday and could evolve into a continental cold mass, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Temperatures could drop below 10°C across Taiwan on Monday and Tuesday next week, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. Seasonal northeasterly winds could bring rain, he said. Meanwhile, due to the continental cold mass and radiative cooling, it would be cold in northern and northeastern Taiwan today and tomorrow, according to the CWA. From last night to this morning, temperatures could drop below 10°C in northern Taiwan, it said. A thin coat of snow
RSS