Three Public Television Service (PTS) executives, including the president, yesterday resigned after a controversial plan was passed at a board meeting.
The “international digital communication project” passed by 11-4 at an extraordinary session that reportedly lasted nearly three-and-a-half hours.
PTS president Tsao Wen-chieh (曹文傑), executive vice president Hsieh Tsui-yu (謝翠玉) and news department manager Su Chi-chen (蘇啟禎) tendered their resignations after the vote.
Photo: Chen Yu-hsun, Taipei Times
After Minister of Culture Lee Yung-te (李永得) on Tuesday last week confirmed that PTS was planning the project, there had been rumors that the project had not been approved by the PTS board of directors.
PTS last month submitted a request for funding from the ministry, with NT$45 million (US$1.53 million) earmarked for the pilot project.
As part of the project, an English-language “international video platform” is to be created in January next year.
Besides news, the platform is expected to provide content highlighting Taiwanese tourism, cuisine, ecological landscape, arts and humanities.
A four-year project with annual funding of NT$1 billion was proposed.
However, at a board meeting on July 16, several board members reportedly questioned why the project had not been reviewed by the board, and accused the central government of “reaching its hands” into the public broadcasting system.
Speaking after yesterday’s meeting, board member Feng Hsiao-fei (馮小非) said the international platform would involve a wide range of issues, adding that more public discussion is needed.
She asked “how big were the forces” involved to let the proposal pass, despite the resignation of senior officials.
National Chengchi University College of Communication professor Cheng Tzu-leong (鄭自隆), a board member who voted against the project, likened the origin of the project to propaganda.
It should not be conducted by PTS, due to its status as a public media organization independent from the government, Cheng said.
The ministry said that it respected the board’s resolution.
With the hard work of the PTS management and employees, it has established its brand and reputation, and earned the public’s trust, which is why it was the government’s top choice when promoting the platform, the ministry said.
However, this was twisted to mean that the government was seizing the service, it said.
Additional reporting by CNA and Sherry Hsiao
TRAGEDY: An expert said that the incident was uncommon as the chance of a ground crew member being sucked into an IDF engine was ‘minuscule’ A master sergeant yesterday morning died after she was sucked into an engine during a routine inspection of a fighter jet at an air base in Taichung, the Air Force Command Headquarters said. The officer, surnamed Hu (胡), was conducting final landing checks at Ching Chuan Kang (清泉崗) Air Base when she was pulled into the jet’s engine for unknown reasons, the air force said in a news release. She was transported to a hospital for emergency treatment, but could not be revived, it said. The air force expressed its deepest sympathies over the incident, and vowed to work with authorities as they
A tourist who was struck and injured by a train in a scenic area of New Taipei City’s Pingsi District (平溪) on Monday might be fined for trespassing on the tracks, the Railway Police Bureau said yesterday. The New Taipei City Fire Department said it received a call at 4:37pm on Monday about an incident in Shifen (十分), a tourist destination on the Pingsi Railway Line. After arriving on the scene, paramedics treated a woman in her 30s for a 3cm to 5cm laceration on her head, the department said. She was taken to a hospital in Keelung, it said. Surveillance footage from a
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
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