Lin managed the news desk during Hsieh’s long campaign of 2008, providing programs favorable to the Democratic Progressive Party standard-bearer, the “Big Talk” talk show in particular.

A daily fare, “Big Talk” relentlessly attacked Hsieh’s Kuomintang rival Ma Ying-jeou.

“He (Lin) is washing his hands of the news programs,” said a highly placed San Lih staffer, who declined to be named. Lin stays on as San Lih chief executive officer.

Chang Yung-hua, San Lih station manager, is taking over the news desk.

There is a policy change. San Lih stopped attacking Ma after his landslide victory.

“It’s possible,” a noted TV commentator said, “that San Lih may switch support to the incoming powers-that-be.” The station manager used to be friendly to the Kuomintang.

Many news workers at San Lih did not like their CEO getting involved so deeply in touting the accomplishments of the Democratic Progressive Party at the expense of the Kuomintang’s past and present “crime.”

The attacks were so fierce that Ma’s spin doctors had to ask a San Lih deputy station manger to pacify Lin and “Big Talk” show host Cheng Hung-yi.

Neither was pacified, though.

With the change in the news desk, Cheng may be fired, a San Lih source said.

The station manager, the source said, is going to meet Cheng today or tomorrow at the latest to give notice, unless the talk show host promises to behave.

“Most likely,” the source added, “the talk show host will make that promise to keep his job. He may keep it for a while, but will be fired sooner or later.”

One of the notoriously biased programs, San Lih aired and used the wrong pictures in a documentary that was supposed to show atrocities committed by government troops sent from China to suppress the February 28 Incident of 1947.

Tens of thousands of innocent native islanders were massacred in the bloody incident, which broke out on that day 61 years ago. The slaughter, together with what is known as the reign of White Terror that followed, spawned a feud between islanders and Chinese mainlanders.

The pictures of police trying to execute criminals at Shanghai in China were shown to claim Genralissimo Chiang Kai-shek’s soldiers were killing innocent native islanders in Keelung, ten miles north of Taipei.

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