A TV program hosted by former independent lawmaker Sisy Chen (陳文茜) is to be reviewed by the National Communications Commission (NCC) on suspicion that it produced “infomercials,” an NCC official said yesterday.
Communication content department director Jason Ho (何吉森) said the NCC had received complaints from viewers concerning the content of the program, Wenqian Mengxiang Yizhan (文茜夢想驛站).
The NCC then evaluated the episode cited by viewers, Ho said.
The program featured about six minutes of coverage on hotels, with details such as the names and the special dishes they offer, Ho said.
The NCC has sent a letter to Chen asking for an explanation, he said.
“This is the way we handle all cases — by following administrative procedures,” he said. “Whether the program violated media legislation will be determined by the members of the [NCC’s] content review committee.”
Members of the committee are media researchers and representatives of civic groups.
The panel’s conclusion must then be passed by the NCC commissioners to become final.
Chen hosts several news programs on TV and radio and writes a column for the Chinese-language Apple Daily.
Upon receiving the NCC’s letter, Chen lashed out at the commission, saying it had embarrassed her.
“As a program host, this is the first time I have ever received such a letter from the NCC,” Chen wrote on her blog. “My first reaction was that it was too humiliating.”
Chen defended her selection of news stories, saying she was increasing reporting on entrepreneurs and young people with dreams to inspire people amid rising unemployment.
Chen said that her programs had offered a wide range of in-depth international and domestic news over the past four years, and that not many TV stations were willing to offer such programs because of the high production costs.
“Based on the NCC’s standards, almost every story we have done in these programs has been an advertisement — except the suicide of former South Korean president Roh Moo-hyun,” she said.
NCC data showed that the commission collected close to NT$70 million in penalties last year.
Of that total, approximately NT$40 million came from cases involving infomercial violations.
In the first half of this year, such informercials have continued to top the list of violations, accounting for NT$23 million in penalties.
An undersea cable to Penghu County has been severed, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said today, with a Chinese-funded ship suspected of being responsible. It comes just a month after a Chinese ship was suspected of severing an undersea cable north of Keelung Harbor. The National Communications and Cyber Security Center received a report at 3:03am today from Chunghwa Telecom that the No. 3 cable from Taiwan to Penghu was severed 14.7km off the coast of Tainan, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) upon receiving a report from Chunghwa Telecom began to monitor the Togolese-flagged Hong Tai (宏泰)
A cat named Mikan (蜜柑) has brought in revenue of more than NT$10 million (US$305,390) for the Kaohsiung MRT last year. Mikan, born on April 4, 2020, was a stray cat before being adopted by personnel of Kaohsiung MRT’s Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station. Mikan was named after a Japanese term for mandarin orange due to his color and because he looks like an orange when curled up. He was named “station master” of Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station in September 2020, and has since become famous. With Kaohsiung MRT’s branding, along with the release of a set of cultural and creative products, station master Mikan
RISING TOURISM: A survey showed that tourist visits increased by 35 percent last year, while newly created attractions contributed almost half of the growth Changhua County’s Lukang Old Street (鹿港老街) and its surrounding historical area clinched first place among Taiwan’s most successful tourist attractions last year, while no location in eastern Taiwan achieved a spot in the top 20 list, the Tourism Administration said. The listing was created by the Tourism Administration’s Forward-looking Tourism Policy Research office. Last year, the Lukang Old Street and its surrounding area had 17.3 million visitors, more than the 16 million visitors for the Wenhua Road Night Market (文化路夜市) in Chiayi City and 14.5 million visitors at Tainan’s Anping (安平) historical area, it said. The Taipei 101 skyscraper and its environs —
Taiwan on Friday said a New Zealand hamburger restaurant has apologized for a racist remark to a Taiwanese customer after reports that it had first apologized to China sparked outrage in Taiwan. An image posted on Threads by a Taiwanese who ate at Fergburger in Queenstown showed that their receipt dated Sunday last week included the words “Ching Chang,” a racial slur. The Chinese Consulate-General in Christchurch in a statement on Thursday said it had received and accepted an apology from the restaurant over the incident. The comment triggered an online furor among Taiwanese who saw it as an insult to the
RSS