Local media polarized: watchdog

By William Lowther  /  Staff reporter, In WASHINGTON

Fri, May 01, 2015 - Page 3

Political polarization, self-censorship and indirect Chinese influence limit the diversity of opinions represented in Taiwan’s mainstream media, a US watchdog group said on Wednesday in Washington.

Taiwan’s vulnerabilities were highlighted last year by rare violence against journalists covering protests and by cyberattacks against an important media outlet that had been critical of Beijing, Freedom House said in its latest report on press freedom, Freedom in the World 2015.

Freedom House issued a general report, coverage of which was carried by the Taipei Times yesterday, and only later released individual country reports.

Despite the reservations caused by perceived Chinese interference, Taiwan was given generally high marks for freedom of the press.

“Taiwan’s media environment is one of the freest in Asia, and the vigorous and diverse press reports aggressively on government policies and alleged official wrongdoing,” the section of the report dealing with Taiwan said.

The nation’s Constitution provides for freedoms of speech and of the press and the government and independent courts generally respect these rights in practice, Freedom House said.

However, it warned that media freedom advocates have urged the government to decriminalize defamation — publication of defamatory words or pictures can still be punished with a maximum of two years in prison.

According to the report, the media is politically polarized and some reporters have complained of being pressured by editors to take sides in national political controversies.

“Journalists also occasionally face pressure to self-censor on topics of importance to the Chinese government,” it says.

The report points out that many Taiwanese media owners have business interests in China or draw advertising revenue from Chinese companies, “making them wary of upsetting Beijing.”

Several journalists encountered violence when covering the Sunflower movement protests last year and “accused police of pushing, dragging and attacking them,” the report said.

The report says that cyberattacks pose a “significant threat” to press freedom in Taiwan because of constant attacks by Chinese cyberwarfare units.

Freedom House said that China continues to have one of the world’s “most restrictive” media environments, and the situation has worsened since Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) came to power.

Nevertheless, as Internet access via mobile devices continued to climb, China’s censorship system was “unable to completely stop the circulation of unfavorable news,” it said.

The report said that in the last year, “for the first time in years,” mainstream professional journalists in China were formally arrested or sentenced to prison, as well as freelancers, online activists and reporters from ethnic minorities.