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Updated Monday, August 24, 2009 9:28 am TWN, The China Post news staff CNN taken out of context on Ma remarks, pollAccording to these critics, CNN International anchorperson Ralitsa Vassileva harshly chided President Ma Ying-jeou while presenting a news story covering the aftermath of Typhoon Morakot. The criticism has been broadcast on virtually every TV network and repeated ad nauseum in newspaper reports and on call-in talk radio programs. Vassileva was accused of being so critical of President Ma that she even referred to him as “this man,” rather than using his name or official title, when footage of his news conference was broadcast on CNN last Tuesday. The results of an “opinion poll” on CNN's Web site, where Web surfers were asked if President Ma's government had handled the typhoon disaster poorly, were also cited as evidence that CNN was somehow joining the bandwagon of criticizing Ma Ying-jeou after more than 80 percent of respondents agreed with the critical statement. Video of the CNN broadcast, where Vassileva can be heard saying “this man has been apologizing over and over again,” has been posted on popular sites and viewed countless times. Whenever local television reports have rebroadcast portions of this video, viewers have been told that it demonstrates the contempt that the international press has for Ma Ying-jeou. The local press is completely wrong in making this assumption about CNN and its supposed intentions. By going on the Web and actually watching the video in its entirety, it is clear to see that Vassileva was merely trying to provide some background information for live footage of President Ma's news conference that was being held at the Presidential Office in Taipei. Vassileva referred to Ma Ying-jeou as the “president of Taiwan” on numerous occasions before saying “this man” and there was no sense of her attempting to somehow insult Ma or present him as being anything other than this country's president. In describing the scene unfolding before the viewers, and without the benefit of a live translation of what Ma was saying, Vassileva apparently only said “this man” to refer to the individual (Ma) appearing in the center of the television screen. In television news, it is common for reporters and anchors to direct the viewers' attention to what they are seeing on their screens, and there is no good reason to think that Vassileva and CNN intended to do otherwise. Comments August 27, 2009 linotw@ Reply I was dismayed by the answer of President Ma during a CNN interview. If only I were president, I would say: I am the President of Republic of China, who is elected by the Taiwanese people in order to serve them faithfully. By the power invested on, I have talked to my cabinet members and gave straight orders to the ministry of defense to send out military personnel and support to the calamity areas in the southern Taiwan. Because of the devastated areas cover wide region of mountains, I am seeking foreign support, specially to those friendly countries can extend air transports so that people trap in the calamity areas will be save immediately. August 28, 2009 bob@ Except the Taiwanese media would pick up on the grammar mistakes and make it top news in Taiwan...PRESIDENT LINO MAKES GRAMMAR MISTAKES, REPUBLIC OF CHINA CONTINUES TO BE EMBARRASSED IN FRONT OF INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY And CNN might pose this question: Do you feel that President Lino should have paid more attention in his English Cram school? Yes 99% No 1% Then Taiwan media would hit all the cram schools for comment and at the same time question the audacity of CNN's claims that Taiwan's English levels are subpar... Just kidding Lino, I like what you said. |
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