The National Communications Commission (NCC) should revoke the license of the Chinese Television System (CTS) for running news tickers that mistakenly said China had invaded and natural disasters had struck on morning news programs, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers said yesterday.
A group of KMT lawmakers surrounded NCC Chairman Chen Yaw-shyang (陳耀祥) before a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, demanding that he “step down,” as he allowed CTS, which aired the erroneous tickers on Wednesday last week, to obtain the channel 52 slot.
Channel 52 was previously occupied by CTi News, but the commission in 2020 rejected an application it submitted to renew its license.
Photo: CNA
Chen was to brief lawmakers on how the commission would reprimand TV news shows that contravene false reporting rules and ensure that they follow Article 62-1 of the Budget Act (預算法), which deals with required public disclosure of advertising and sponsorships linked to content.
Chen should take administrative responsibility for the “low-class error” of CTS, the KMT lawmakers said, adding that the news channel has yet to be penalized for false reporting.
Chen on Monday told lawmakers that the error would not cost the network its broadcasting license.
“The NCC is an independent agency and will scrutinize CTS’ operations,” Chen told the committee yesterday.
“What you [KMT lawmakers] are doing is interfering in the operations of an independent agency,” he said as he sat in a seat surrounded by plastic dividers, chanting opposition lawmakers and media workers.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Phoenix Cheng (鄭運鵬) said that the KMT should not delay the committee meeting by corralling and verbally attacking a government official.
“Are you not able to question the NCC chairman thoroughly when he is at the podium?” Cheng asked.
KMT Legislator Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷), who presided over the meeting, did not declare it started until 9:15am, when the protesting lawmakers departed.
In the meeting, KMT Legislator Fu Kun-chi (傅崐萁) said that the commission was biased, as it rejected CTi News’ license renewal application based on an assessment that it had false reporting and its internal quality control mechanisms were awry.
However, “the CTS errors show that it has the same problems, but the NCC chairman said that its error was not egregious enough to warrant the loss of its license,” Fu said.
Hung said that 60 percent of cable television operators have yet to fill the channel 52 slot almost two years after CTi News’ license expired.
“Is the commission holding the slot for news channels with political positions more aligned with the DPP?” Hung asked Chen.
DPP Legislator Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) and KMT Legislator Lai Shyh-bao (賴士葆) said that CTS’ actions might have contravened the National Security Act (國家安全法), the Disaster Prevention and Protection Act (災害防救法), the Social Order Maintenance Act (社會秩序維護法), the Securities and Exchange Act (證券交易法) and the Radio and Television Act (廣播電視法).
The commission should forward the case to other agencies to determine whether CTS should face penalties from them, Liu and Lai said.
CTS last week said that the content of the news tickers were created by the New Taipei City Fire Department for disaster drill purposes.
The New Taipei City Government commissioned CTS to produce a disaster drill video, but the producer failed to restore a file link path of a screen layout after completing the recording, resulting in the error, it said.
CTS is part of the Taiwan Broadcast System (TBS), Taiwan’s only government-funded public television system.
TBS Chairwoman Tchen Yu-chiou (陳郁秀) and CTS acting general manager Chen Ya-lin (陳雅琳) have tendered their resignations.
CTS held a board meeting yesterday, at which Public Television Service Foundation board member Cheng Tzu-leong (鄭自隆), who is an adjunct professor of communications at National Chengchi University, was elected the network’s new chairman.
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