Revoking cable news licenses may spark feud

The opposition camp said the government move could have infringed on the freedom of press and it will mount a new push for the establishment of a long-stalled independent electronic media watchdog agency.

The Cabinet’s Government Information Office (GIO) made the controversial decision late Sunday night to not renew business licenses for seven TV channels, including an all-news channel owned by Eastern Multimedia Group, which in turn is an affiliate of the Rebar conglomerate.

GIO officials said the license of ETTV-S was being revoked because it and sister news station ETTV had violated regulations governing news broadcasting more than other stations.

The order to suspend operations of the news station was made in a bid to restore order to an industry that has been widely criticized for producing irresponsible journalism, they said.

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“We hope this move ... could have a positive effect on ensuring the viewing rights of children and teenagers, (improving the) media’s self-discipline and establishing a plural and open industry,” the GIO said in its statement.

Before a panel retained by the GIO made the final decision, both Premier Frank Hsieh and GIO chief Yao Wen-chih already made it clear that it would be rather weird if all licenses are to be renewed.

The GIO move drew criticisms from opposition parties for using political power to interfere with the mass communications industry.

When asked by reporters, Premier Hsieh said he did not personally involve in the decision, adding that he only gave an instruction to “minimize the possible impact.”

Yao defended that GIO was only heed to the recommendation of the screening panel comprised of experts in the field.

The whole five-hour reviewing process as well as discussion and debates of the 12 panelists were recorded and can be made public to dispel the speculation that the GIO had made any intervention, he explained.

The license for the Longshon movie channel will also be scrapped. Other channels what will stop operating from midnight today include the Wall Street finance & economic channel, and four stations (Rainbow, Open, CASA, and Penglai) that air mostly programs featuring scantily dressed women after midnight.

ETTV news channel was permitted to continue broadcasts, they said.

The officials warned that the channels that won the extension of licenses are only “on a probation” basis. The TV stations still face the threat of losing their licenses in the months ahead if they continue their present practice, they stressed.

Including ETTV-S, Taiwan now boasts eight 24-hour cable news stations broadcast a combination of hard news stories and sensationalist treatment of crime and entertainment figures.

In addition to the cable news stations, more than a dozen other TV stations also have regular news programs competing for viewers on an island of just 23 million people.

Reflecting escalated political confrontations and worsening social orders, Taiwan’s electronic media have been hit hard by journalism professors and parents organizations for seemingly unrestricted reports on any issues, including lampooning people in the power.

Backing the GIO action, lawmakers of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) faulted the cable TV channels with nine major deficiencies, including the play-up of violence, sex, too many on-site live broadcasting, commercializing news stories, infringing on human rights, and fabricating news stories.

However, lawmakers of the opposition Kuomintang (KMT) and People First Party (PFP) said the government ban on ETTV-S could jeopardize press freedom by stifling criticism of officials.

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