Industry

Media--The Remix

• Byline:KELLY HER
• Publication Date:06/01/2006

Taiwan's effervescent media have a new regulator and a public broadcasting group in the works, both prompted by higher public expectations.

Over the last two decades, Taiwan's media have evolved into a 24-hour cacophony of ferociously competitive voices. The media's rampant free-market nature and the overwhelming volume of unfettered information have created a rare consensus --that it is time for some kind of reform, both in terms of the government ownership and oversight, and the restructuring of media organizations themselves.

During the early 1990s when cable television channels were blooming, the prime target of media reform was state ownership. The Kuomintang (KMT)--the political party that governed Taiwan from 1949 to 2000--maintained a virtual monopoly on most radio stations and all three terrestrial television stations. Since the establishment of a multiparty system in the 1980s, the government has been liberalizing the media environment and political parties have been encouraged to shed their media holdings. Last December, for example, the KMT sold its controlling stakes in the Broadcasting Corporation of China (BCC) radio station, China Television Co. (CTV) and the Central Motion Picture Corp. to the China Times Group for NT$9.3 billion (US$290 million).

The great selloff is part of the fundamental shifts in the media environment in Taiwan and reflects the general consensus that the media should operate independently and be regulated by a nonpartisan body. That consensus is evident in recent legislation. In January this year, the long-stalled law on disposing of public shares in terrestrial TV stations was eventually given a green light. According to the statute, the state-owned Taiwan Television Enterprise (TTV) must sell all of its shares through a public and transparent procedure. As for the Chinese Television System (CTS), another national television station, the government will spend approximately NT$2 billion (US$63 million) to buy back its privately owned shares before donating them to a planned public television network. The government plans to integrate the Public Television Service (PTS), a terrestrial channel founded in 1998, with CTS and existing Hakka and aboriginal television stations into a public network.

Independent Oversight

Apart from tidying up its own backyard through these selloffs, this February the government launched the independent National Communications Commission (NCC), charged with regulating the country's communications and broadcasting indus tries. The new regulatory body consolidates responsibilities formerly shared by the Government Information Office (GIO) and the Ministry of Transportation and Communications.

These reforms have all come about largely from increasing public concern over the state of the media. Hung Chen-ling, assistant professor at National Taiwan University's Graduate Institute of Journalism, argues that the current state of the media is undermining public confidence in the industry. "Taiwan's media coverage has fundamental quality problems," she says. "Journalists are no longer respected, in fact they're despised." She sees the Taiwanese media veering toward a tabloid style, particularly since a Taiwanese version of the Apple Daily, a Hong Kong newspaper, hit the newsstands in May 2003.

Wei Ti, an assistant professor in the Department of Mass Communication at Tamkang University, has similar ideas about media quality, but asserts that the problems are homegrown. "The domestic media were like this before the Apple Daily arrived," he says. "That's why it does so well!" He believes that the island's newspapers, magazines and TV channels rely on sensationalism and gossip to boost market share. Wei says that after the lifting of martial law in 1987, the airwaves and cables were flooded with newcomers and that their arrival was virtually unplanned and unmanaged, which has led to the saturated market of today.

Competition is indeed fierce. The island's 23 million people can choose from five terrestrial television stations, 173 radio stations and 130 cable television channels. In fact, cable TV is viewed by 80 percent of the population, the world's highest penetration rate. Chiang Hsia, former president of the CTS, agrees that the unregulated establishment of so many cable TV channels is an important factor behind the heated competition. "There used to be only three terrestrial TV stations carving up the NT$20 billion (US$625 million) advertising pie," she says. "Now some 100 TV channels are vying for a slice."

Maximizing profits and minimizing expenses, however, have resulted in some lackluster programming. "What Taiwan's media lack are not operational platforms, but funding and talent," Chiang says. "Due to shrinking budgets, most of them just buy foreign programs or produce low-budget talk shows." Chiang thinks that this practice not only deprives local entertainers of work opportunities and forces many of them to relocate overseas, but also limits the viewing options of the general public. "Given the influence they have on society, the media really need to shoulder social responsibility and produce quality programming," she says.

Breathing Life into Public TV

Chiang believes that to be successful in the long run, TV stations must build a style of their own through the production of quality programs. During the last year and half as head of the CTS, she required program production to address the real lives of ordinary people and the things that interest them. Market response toward this initiative has been good, and for her this indicates it was not that audiences did not like this kind of content before, but simply that they were not offered such alternatives.

A desire for more variety is something that compelled Wei Ti to help organize a watchdog group, Campaign for Media Reform (CMR), in 2003. One of the group's main objectives is to set up media role models. "Free from commercial pressure, public TV stations can pay more attention to quality and diversity," says Wei. "In this way they'll become a guiding force." The CMR has been closely involved with the government in its plans to form a public television network. Wei thinks that the financial resources of the PTS are trifling and that Taiwan should act more like South Korea, which has two public TV stations, each of which receives approximately 15 times more than the NT$900 million (US$28 million) the PTS gets from the government. "Right from the beginning, PTS was designed to be 'small' and 'beautiful,' that has limited its development," says Wei. "The government needs to increase funding so the channel can be influential."

To counter fears of publicly funded media draining government coffers, he points out that the Korean public TV drama series Jewel in the Palace, which has been immensely popular at home and abroad, cost the government very little. He also notes that public stations, such as the British Broadcasting Corp., provide quality programs while supporting themselves financially.

Other community groups have recommended that the government create a public radio network by combining the facilities and talent of state-run National Education Radio, the Police Radio Station and the Voice of Han Broadcasting Network. Helen Chao, director-general of the Police Radio Station, however, does not approve of this proposal. She thinks that the nature and performance of networks need to be considered individually and that making them public is not a panacea for all media problems.

According to Chao, some government-run networks, including hers, have clearly defined briefs. "Our mission--providing citizens with advice and reporting traffic conditions--are very specific and, as ACNielsen's ratings show, very well received," she says. The station functions so well largely because of its limited goals and direct sponsorship from the National Police Administration. Chao likens the station to a well-equipped patrol car. "Why would you want to turn it into a public bus?" she asks.

Debating the Government's Role

The GIO is currently seeking the advice of professionals like Chao, along with community groups and scholars on the objectives, size and organizational structure of the planned public broadcasting group. "We want to expand the public TV network appropriately," says Cheng Wen-tsang, minister of the GIO. "Nevertheless, public TV stations will have to target a large audience so that they can be responsible for their own survival." Putting its money where its mouth is, the Executive Yuan recently approved a special budget of NT$9.2 billion (US$288 million) for the public broadcasting group to be completed in two years.

Hung Chen-ling has high expectations for the public media group, particularly in regard to the number of channels and types of programming. "There is a shortage of programs on the arts, children, culture and international affairs," she says. "Hopefully, the public broadcasting network can address these deficiencies."

As a member of CMR and equal rights group the Awakening Foundation, Hung finds her position as a teacher undermined by the poor quality of media. "To some degree, we academics share the same fate as the industry," she says. "If the industry does not perform well, people question our role." She sees the government as entitled to exercise reasonable control over the media, and believes the broadcast license review system under the newly established NCC, which rates programming quality among other things, is a positive step in this direction. Miscreant networks may have their operations suspended or be fined if their performances are not up to standard.

Wei Ti concurs on the government's role in regulating the media, but emphasizes positive reinforcement. "Focusing media reform on regulation is a passive approach--preventing misconduct is less effective than creating incentives or setting good examples," he says. "However, the current chaos in the marketplace has necessitated government intervention." He is happy to see the NCC set up and the public broadcasting group taking shape. "Our role is changing. In the past, we were in a position to encourage and support the government to revamp Taiwan's media," he says. "In the days ahead, we'll play a critical and supervisory role over the public TV network and the NCC."

While the balance between government regulation and a free marketplace of ideas is worked out, the people of Taiwan will continue to tune in to their radio and TV programs and scan their newspapers. Though sometimes described as unruly, the competitive media environment most importantly provides a wealth of choices.