The National Communications Commission (NCC) could adopt the criteria used for the approval of Mirror News (鏡電視) to evaluate the performance of cable news channels, NCC Chairman Chen Yaw-shyang (陳耀祥) said yesterday.
Mirror Media was last month granted approval to establish the news channel after it was reviewed by the commission for two years.
However, NCC commissioners Lin Li-yun (林麗雲) and Wang Wei-ching (王維菁) wrote a letter of dissent regarding the ruling, saying that the commission should not review applications for the establishment of news channels as if they are judging an essay competition.
The commission should review its policies governing the establishment and evaluation of news channels, they said.
Chen told reporters at a luncheon that he respects the diverse opinions of NCC commissioners, adding that it is normal for commissioners to write letters of dissent.
However, Mirror News’ business plan was probably the best one he has seen so far, he said.
“Taiwan has neither the legislation nor the policy to cap the number of news channels on cable. We want competition in the market, but if we had rejected Mirror Media’s application even though it had presented a well-composed business plan, we would in reality be limiting the number of news channels. I simply cannot accept this logic,” Chen said.
“We are dissatisfied with existing channels, but if new ones have no way to [launch] either, one has to question if this is really good for the country. Whether a news channel can survive after it secures a license is its own business, but we should not limit the entry of newcomers into the market,” he said.
Chen also questioned the fairness of blaming Mirror News for causing the chaos that has existed in broadcast news media for years.
Communications experts disagreed with the NCC ruling, because they have severe doubts about Mirror Group chairman Pei Wei (裴偉), who was widely credited with bringing sensational, paparazzi-style journalism into the country, Chen said.
“I approved the case because the channel has pledged to retain communications expert Weng Shieu-chi (翁秀琪) as a full-time ombudsman to control quality,” he said.
The case highlights the importance of having an accountability mechanism, Chen said.
“Such mechanisms include whether the new channel has an internal quality control system and can produce and review independently. We will deliberate whether it is necessary to require all news channels to have an ombudsman. [These] could become criteria we use to evaluate their performance and license renewal application,” he said.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS