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Mass media in Taiwan

January 20, 2023

The mass media in Taiwan is considered to be one of the freest and most competitive in Asia. Cable TV usage is high (around 80%) and there is also a wide selection of newspapers available covering most political viewpoints.

Taiwan's media history

While Taiwan's media freedom may rank among the top few nations in Asia today, its progress to its current state of vibrancy was not without a struggle.[1] The Japanese occupation of Taiwan from 1895 to 1945 did not slow down the pace of economic modernisation on the island; the Kuomintang (KMT, Nationalist Party) also built on the successes of its predecessors to modernize and this provided the basis for its mass media industry to develop.[2] However, KMT's pursuit of economic progress and democratic ideals did not automatically mean that Taiwan's media could fulfill its role as the fourth estate of democracy, as a check on the government. The martial law era media was kept on a tight leash and the explicit prohibition from enquiring about then-President Chiang Kai-shek, reinforced the culture of deference to KMT politicians even further.[2] It would not be surprising to observe mainstream media's close relations with the KMT regime, as the authoritarian nature of KMT determined media firms’ business practices. Taiwanese media was structured to transmit the official ideology decided by the KMT, such as the emphasized Han Chinese identity over Taiwanese identity, in response to political and national security concerns as claimed by the latter.[3] The official media's role in Taiwanese society was to communicate the government's decisions, mobilising people around its agenda and finding ways to work towards meeting the regime's objectives under the close supervision by the Government Information Office.[2]

In an effort to curb dissent, KMT promulgated the Enforcement Rules for the Publications Act in 1952, which effectively banned the establishment of any more new magazines, newspapers and news agencies during Taiwan's martial law era (1949–1987).[4] From 1952 to 1987, there were 31 newspapers in Taiwan, and by 1974, 44 news agencies.[5] Yet this did not seem to prevent dissenting voices from seeking its space in the public sphere and in response, the KMT began employing alternative methods to limit the opposition movement from gaining traction. The authors of material which offends the KMT were subjected to reprisals, where the KMT and government officials repeatedly filed criminal libel and sedition suits against them, which often resulted in jail terms.[6] This period of harsh suppression has also been remembered as the White Terror in Taiwanese history, where high-profile and educated dissidents such as Professor Chen Wen-chen began to disappear.[7] Under such circumstances, alternative radio and television channels continued to thrive in Taiwan as a subversive underground movement to push for democratization, freedom and civil rights, even though they were barred from establishing themselves on official airways. The underground media's status provided a focus for organised and sustained opposition to the KMT-dominated state, where its magazines provided a voice for the politically marginalised Taiwanese since it was not covered by the press ban.[2] Specifically, the underground media brought the lives of KMT politicians under scrutiny and also brought opposition activists to the attention of their audience, familiarising the people with their names and platforms.[2]

This convergence of opposition ideologies in the underground media scene also saw the beginning of an entwinement of interests between both the underground media operators and the main opposition grouping at that time, Tangwai. In a time where cable television was banned, its operators have seen the partnership with opposition politicians as mutually beneficial, since cable television can be used as a powerful vehicle to promote the politicians’ goals and in return, the operators gain lobbyists for their business goals.[3] The then illegal opposition grouping Tangwai only took its current opposition liberal Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) form in 1986 and even then it was done illegally.[8] Media operators and politicians on both end of the political spectrum forged close relations during the martial law era, with whomever their vested interests lie in and this pattern persisted on to the situation today, albeit in the form of media outlets that are sympathetic to one of the two major parties.[1] The proximity between DPP members and cable television firms suggests that, a patron client relationship was sustained between them at that time. Furthermore, it has been revealed that 20 politicians from the DPP had investments in the operation of 35 pro-DPP cable television systems in 1994.[3] With a common goal and material support for the opposition campaign from the underground media, DPP pressed for greater liberalization of media and civil rights for the people. Yielding under popular pressure and United States, KMT lifted the 38 years of martial law imposed on Taiwan and the DPP became a legal political party in 1989, with cable television legalized with the enactment of the Cable Radio and Television Act.[4]

KMT was not a passive party in this process of negotiation for media liberalization, although it seems slow in responding to the rapidly transforming electronic media environment and that the DPP had an upper hand in the underground media environment. During the review period for the draft cable law, one of the most controversial articles added by the legislature was the ban on political party ownership of cable systems that are critical of KMT.[3] This article could be argued as an effort made towards preserving equality and leveling the playing field for the cable television systems. However, KMT rejected the article and allowed political parties to finance cable systems. Before the enactment of the cable law, KMT has already set up Po-Hsin Multimedia in order to take a share of the cable market upon the enactment of the cable law.[3] Recent reform efforts have seen this gap filled up as the new Radio and Television Broadcasting Law required the government, the political parties and the military to give up their electronic media shareholding by 26 December 2005.[9] Since the legalization of cable television, KMT has lost its power over the industry contrary to what its original expectation of sustaining influence over the medium.[3] With the rapid proliferation of print and broadcast media following liberalisation and the repeal of restrictions on transmitting and receiving cable television broadcasts, the market has taken over the state as the dominant influence over the mass media industry.

An official of President Chen Shui-bian's Cabinet said:”If the public dislikes certain TV channel or radio station which they think is manipulated by a certain party or individual they detest, they simply refuse to watch it or listen to it.” [2] The ongoing anti-monopoly dispute involving Want Want China Broadband's proposal to purchase China Network Systems seems to highlight the Taiwanese government's antipathy towards monopolies. If the merger is approved by the National Communications Commission (NCC), the multibillion-dollar deal would allow the Want Want conglomerate to secure 23 percent of Taiwan's cable subscribers and approximately one-third of the overall media market.[1] The diversity of opinion in Taiwanese media is highly regarded by not only the journalist circle but also by the wider public who recognizes its importance in maintaining their society's pluralistic nature.

Cable television

Main article: Television in Taiwan

Cable television is prevalent in Taiwan, as a result of cheap subscription rates (typically around NT$550, or US$15 a month) and the paucity of free-to-air television, which comprises about 20 channels. Programming is mostly in Mandarin and Taiwanese, with a few channels in Hakka or English. There are also programs in other foreign languages, mainly east Asian and south-east Asian languages. Miniseries, called Taiwanese drama, are popular. There is a dedicated station for Taiwan's Hakka minority as well as the arrival in 2005 of an aboriginal channel. There are around 100 channels with most stations being dedicated to a particular genre; such as game shows, news, anime, movies, sports and documentaries. Almost all programs are in the original language with traditional Chinese subtitles.

The cable television system comprises around one hundred different channels, ranging from news, sport, variety, game, music, children's, foreign, movie and documentary channels.

The Taiwanese government is promoting digital signal television, provided through a set-top box. The analog signal of air television was turned off on 30 June 2012.

Radio

There are many stations across the AM and FM spectrum broadcasting a wide variety of programming. Talk-shows, popular music and classic songs are some of the most frequently heard subjects. Exclusively Taiwanese-language stations have enjoyed a surge in popularity since the end of the martial law era and regulations restricting the use of languages other than Mandarin Chinese.

Wikipedia's Taiwan Radio Station Table (in Chinese)

Newspapers

For a more comprehensive list, see List of newspapers in Taiwan.
 
Newspapers in Taiwan

Between 1952 and 1987 the number of papers in Taiwan was a constant 31 as there was a ban on opening new papers. Censorship during this period was heavy with the KMT regime having near total control over the papers. It wasn’t until liberalization in 1988 that independent newspapers were allowed to open, by the end of 1988 126 newspapers operated in Taiwan.[10]

Most popular newspapers include:

Newspapers in English:

Other newspapers:

Ceased publication:

Available only in digital format:

Magazines and periodicals

In 1988, there were only about 3,400 magazine publishers in the country. Today, the number has been rapidly increasing to 4,827 (by August 2006). Magazines are various in different contents, including business, politics, entertainment, languages, lifestyle, technology, health, cooking, automobiles, women, education, traveling etc.

Internet

Taiwan is one of the most wired places in the world - broadband or cable modem access is relatively cheap and fast. In 2005 there were 13.8 million internet users and 2.8 million webhosts in Taiwan (for a total population of 22.9 million). A popular feature of even small towns are internet cafes (Chinese: 網咖, Pinyin: wǎngkā), which are open 24-hour and sell a variety of food and drink so that the mainly teenage online gamers who inhabit them do not have to stray too far from their monitors. Taiwan websites use the .tw domain.

Taiwan has some online resources available in English:

  • - Government owned news agency based in Taipei
  • Eat News - Economic and Political Media Limited owned news agency based in Taipei

Media environment

Due to its rapid change and quick development, the media in Taiwan has been in an acrimoniously competitive environment. Covering a market of 23 million people, the country has 8 twenty-four-hour news stations (compared to 3 in the US, 3 in the UK, and 3 in Japan), approximately 200 radio stations, about 2,500 newspaper publishers, and more than 4,000 magazine publishers; moreover, Taiwan also has the highest density of Satellite News Gathering (SNG) trucks in the world: 23 million people are served by 82 trucks, compared to 120 million/71 in Japan, 7 million/1 in Hong Kong, 48 million/40 in Korea, and 1 billion/300 in India. However, in order to earn a higher Nielsen rating in such a competitive market, sometimes the shows tend to include sexual and violent contents. Sensational headlines are often picked up.[citation needed]

See also

References

Citations

  1. ^ a b c Taiwan (2012-04-25). "Taiwan | Country report | Freedom of the Press | 2012". Freedomhouse.org. Retrieved 2017-01-07.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Gary D. Rawnsley Gary D. Rawnsley (2004-01-01). (PDF). Pa.oxfordjournals.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-10-10. Retrieved 2017-01-07.
  3. ^ a b c d e f "The Asian Media Information and Communication Centre (AMIC) - Singapore - Asian Media Information and Communication Centre (AMIC)". www.amic.org.sg. Archived from the original on 27 February 2014. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
  4. ^ a b (PDF). www.ey.gov.tw. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 October 2012. Retrieved 15 January 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. ^ Han Cheung (29 December 2019). "Taiwan in Time: Unleashing the media free-for-all". Taipei Times. Retrieved 29 December 2019.
  6. ^ "The Unknown Taiwan - Media". Cwcmf.net. Retrieved 2017-01-07.
  7. ^ "Report sheds light on 1981 mystery". Taipei Times. 2017-01-01. Retrieved 2017-01-07.
  8. ^ "Application Control Violation" (PDF). Tfd.org.tw. Retrieved 2017-01-07.
  9. ^ "KMT sells media outlets". The China Post. Retrieved 2017-01-07.
  10. ^ Cheung, Han (29 December 2019). "Taiwan in Time: Unleashing the media free-for-all". www.taipeitimes.com. Taipei Times. Retrieved 29 December 2019.

Sources

  • BBC Country Profile: Taiwan
  • CIA - The World Factbook: Taiwan
  • Ma, Ringo (2003). Status of media in Taiwan. In Encyclopedia of international media and communications (Vol. 4, pp. 329–339). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.

January 20, 2023
mass, media, taiwan, mass, media, taiwan, considered, freest, most, competitive, asia, cable, usage, high, around, there, also, wide, selection, newspapers, available, covering, most, political, viewpoints, contents, taiwan, media, history, cable, television, . The mass media in Taiwan is considered to be one of the freest and most competitive in Asia Cable TV usage is high around 80 and there is also a wide selection of newspapers available covering most political viewpoints Contents 1 Taiwan s media history 2 Cable television 3 Radio 4 Newspapers 5 Magazines and periodicals 6 Internet 7 Media environment 8 See also 9 References 9 1 Citations 9 2 SourcesTaiwan s media history EditWhile Taiwan s media freedom may rank among the top few nations in Asia today its progress to its current state of vibrancy was not without a struggle 1 The Japanese occupation of Taiwan from 1895 to 1945 did not slow down the pace of economic modernisation on the island the Kuomintang KMT Nationalist Party also built on the successes of its predecessors to modernize and this provided the basis for its mass media industry to develop 2 However KMT s pursuit of economic progress and democratic ideals did not automatically mean that Taiwan s media could fulfill its role as the fourth estate of democracy as a check on the government The martial law era media was kept on a tight leash and the explicit prohibition from enquiring about then President Chiang Kai shek reinforced the culture of deference to KMT politicians even further 2 It would not be surprising to observe mainstream media s close relations with the KMT regime as the authoritarian nature of KMT determined media firms business practices Taiwanese media was structured to transmit the official ideology decided by the KMT such as the emphasized Han Chinese identity over Taiwanese identity in response to political and national security concerns as claimed by the latter 3 The official media s role in Taiwanese society was to communicate the government s decisions mobilising people around its agenda and finding ways to work towards meeting the regime s objectives under the close supervision by the Government Information Office 2 In an effort to curb dissent KMT promulgated the Enforcement Rules for the Publications Act in 1952 which effectively banned the establishment of any more new magazines newspapers and news agencies during Taiwan s martial law era 1949 1987 4 From 1952 to 1987 there were 31 newspapers in Taiwan and by 1974 44 news agencies 5 Yet this did not seem to prevent dissenting voices from seeking its space in the public sphere and in response the KMT began employing alternative methods to limit the opposition movement from gaining traction The authors of material which offends the KMT were subjected to reprisals where the KMT and government officials repeatedly filed criminal libel and sedition suits against them which often resulted in jail terms 6 This period of harsh suppression has also been remembered as the White Terror in Taiwanese history where high profile and educated dissidents such as Professor Chen Wen chen began to disappear 7 Under such circumstances alternative radio and television channels continued to thrive in Taiwan as a subversive underground movement to push for democratization freedom and civil rights even though they were barred from establishing themselves on official airways The underground media s status provided a focus for organised and sustained opposition to the KMT dominated state where its magazines provided a voice for the politically marginalised Taiwanese since it was not covered by the press ban 2 Specifically the underground media brought the lives of KMT politicians under scrutiny and also brought opposition activists to the attention of their audience familiarising the people with their names and platforms 2 This convergence of opposition ideologies in the underground media scene also saw the beginning of an entwinement of interests between both the underground media operators and the main opposition grouping at that time Tangwai In a time where cable television was banned its operators have seen the partnership with opposition politicians as mutually beneficial since cable television can be used as a powerful vehicle to promote the politicians goals and in return the operators gain lobbyists for their business goals 3 The then illegal opposition grouping Tangwai only took its current opposition liberal Democratic Progressive Party DPP form in 1986 and even then it was done illegally 8 Media operators and politicians on both end of the political spectrum forged close relations during the martial law era with whomever their vested interests lie in and this pattern persisted on to the situation today albeit in the form of media outlets that are sympathetic to one of the two major parties 1 The proximity between DPP members and cable television firms suggests that a patron client relationship was sustained between them at that time Furthermore it has been revealed that 20 politicians from the DPP had investments in the operation of 35 pro DPP cable television systems in 1994 3 With a common goal and material support for the opposition campaign from the underground media DPP pressed for greater liberalization of media and civil rights for the people Yielding under popular pressure and United States KMT lifted the 38 years of martial law imposed on Taiwan and the DPP became a legal political party in 1989 with cable television legalized with the enactment of the Cable Radio and Television Act 4 KMT was not a passive party in this process of negotiation for media liberalization although it seems slow in responding to the rapidly transforming electronic media environment and that the DPP had an upper hand in the underground media environment During the review period for the draft cable law one of the most controversial articles added by the legislature was the ban on political party ownership of cable systems that are critical of KMT 3 This article could be argued as an effort made towards preserving equality and leveling the playing field for the cable television systems However KMT rejected the article and allowed political parties to finance cable systems Before the enactment of the cable law KMT has already set up Po Hsin Multimedia in order to take a share of the cable market upon the enactment of the cable law 3 Recent reform efforts have seen this gap filled up as the new Radio and Television Broadcasting Law required the government the political parties and the military to give up their electronic media shareholding by 26 December 2005 9 Since the legalization of cable television KMT has lost its power over the industry contrary to what its original expectation of sustaining influence over the medium 3 With the rapid proliferation of print and broadcast media following liberalisation and the repeal of restrictions on transmitting and receiving cable television broadcasts the market has taken over the state as the dominant influence over the mass media industry An official of President Chen Shui bian s Cabinet said If the public dislikes certain TV channel or radio station which they think is manipulated by a certain party or individual they detest they simply refuse to watch it or listen to it 2 The ongoing anti monopoly dispute involving Want Want China Broadband s proposal to purchase China Network Systems seems to highlight the Taiwanese government s antipathy towards monopolies If the merger is approved by the National Communications Commission NCC the multibillion dollar deal would allow the Want Want conglomerate to secure 23 percent of Taiwan s cable subscribers and approximately one third of the overall media market 1 The diversity of opinion in Taiwanese media is highly regarded by not only the journalist circle but also by the wider public who recognizes its importance in maintaining their society s pluralistic nature Cable television EditMain article Television in Taiwan Cable television is prevalent in Taiwan as a result of cheap subscription rates typically around NT 550 or US 15 a month and the paucity of free to air television which comprises about 20 channels Programming is mostly in Mandarin and Taiwanese with a few channels in Hakka or English There are also programs in other foreign languages mainly east Asian and south east Asian languages Miniseries called Taiwanese drama are popular There is a dedicated station for Taiwan s Hakka minority as well as the arrival in 2005 of an aboriginal channel There are around 100 channels with most stations being dedicated to a particular genre such as game shows news anime movies sports and documentaries Almost all programs are in the original language with traditional Chinese subtitles The cable television system comprises around one hundred different channels ranging from news sport variety game music children s foreign movie and documentary channels The Taiwanese government is promoting digital signal television provided through a set top box The analog signal of air television was turned off on 30 June 2012 Radio EditThere are many stations across the AM and FM spectrum broadcasting a wide variety of programming Talk shows popular music and classic songs are some of the most frequently heard subjects Exclusively Taiwanese language stations have enjoyed a surge in popularity since the end of the martial law era and regulations restricting the use of languages other than Mandarin Chinese This list is incomplete you can help by adding missing items August 2008 Broadcasting Corporation of China National and regional networks Radio Taiwan International National broadcaster also beams services to mainland China and the rest of the world with programmes in various languages and Chinese dialects International Community Radio Taipei Taiwan s only national English language station Public Radio System Government run travel weather social information Hit FM and Kiss Radio Taiwan both play popular Chinese music UFO Radio Second largest station in Taiwan Very popular Plays all different kinds of music such as C pop J pop and American pop Voice of Han Military Radio Station Fuxing Radio Military Radio Station Taipei Broadcasting Station National Education RadioWikipedia s Taiwan Radio Station Table in Chinese Newspapers EditFor a more comprehensive list see List of newspapers in Taiwan Newspapers in Taiwan Between 1952 and 1987 the number of papers in Taiwan was a constant 31 as there was a ban on opening new papers Censorship during this period was heavy with the KMT regime having near total control over the papers It wasn t until liberalization in 1988 that independent newspapers were allowed to open by the end of 1988 126 newspapers operated in Taiwan 10 Most popular newspapers include China Times Zhongguo Shibao Liberty Times Ziyou Shibao United Daily News Lianhe Bao Newspapers in English Taipei Times Taibei Shibao Chinese 台北時報 Taiwan Today Jinri Taiwan Chinese 今日台灣 The China Post Yingwen Zhongguo Youbao Chinese 英文中國郵報 Other newspapers Commercial Times Gongshang Ribao DigiTimes Dianzi Shibao IT industry news Economic Daily News Jingji Ribao Mandarin Daily News Guoyu Ribao Children s newspaper written with Zhuyin accompanying the text Taiwan Times Taiwan Shibao Youth Daily News youth civilians and military daily newspaperCeased publication Apple Daily Pingguo Ribao China Times Night Zhongshi Wanbao Independence Evening Post Zili Wanbao Min Sheng Bao Min Sheng Bao Taiwan Daily Taiwan Ribao Available only in digital format Central Daily News Zhongyang Ribao Taiwan News English newspaper The News Lens Guanjian pinglun wǎng Chinese 關鍵評論網 Magazines and periodicals EditIn 1988 there were only about 3 400 magazine publishers in the country Today the number has been rapidly increasing to 4 827 by August 2006 Magazines are various in different contents including business politics entertainment languages lifestyle technology health cooking automobiles women education traveling etc Internet EditTaiwan is one of the most wired places in the world broadband or cable modem access is relatively cheap and fast In 2005 there were 13 8 million internet users and 2 8 million webhosts in Taiwan for a total population of 22 9 million A popular feature of even small towns are internet cafes Chinese 網咖 Pinyin wǎngka which are open 24 hour and sell a variety of food and drink so that the mainly teenage online gamers who inhabit them do not have to stray too far from their monitors Taiwan websites use the tw domain Taiwan has some online resources available in English China News Agency Government owned news agency based in Taipei Eat News Economic and Political Media Limited owned news agency based in TaipeiMedia environment EditDue to its rapid change and quick development the media in Taiwan has been in an acrimoniously competitive environment Covering a market of 23 million people the country has 8 twenty four hour news stations compared to 3 in the US 3 in the UK and 3 in Japan approximately 200 radio stations about 2 500 newspaper publishers and more than 4 000 magazine publishers moreover Taiwan also has the highest density of Satellite News Gathering SNG trucks in the world 23 million people are served by 82 trucks compared to 120 million 71 in Japan 7 million 1 in Hong Kong 48 million 40 in Korea and 1 billion 300 in India However in order to earn a higher Nielsen rating in such a competitive market sometimes the shows tend to include sexual and violent contents Sensational headlines are often picked up citation needed See also EditCulture of Taiwan Taiwanese drama Taiwan Public Television Service Foundation PTS Television in Taiwan Censorship in Taiwan Press Freedom IndexReferences EditCitations Edit a b c Taiwan 2012 04 25 Taiwan Country report Freedom of the Press 2012 Freedomhouse org Retrieved 2017 01 07 a b c d e f Gary D Rawnsley Gary D Rawnsley 2004 01 01 Treading a Fine Line Democratisation and the Media in Taiwan Parliamentary Affairs Oxford Academic PDF Pa oxfordjournals org Archived from the original PDF on 2015 10 10 Retrieved 2017 01 07 a b c d e f The Asian Media Information and Communication Centre AMIC Singapore Asian Media Information and Communication Centre AMIC www amic org sg Archived from the original on 27 February 2014 Retrieved 2 February 2022 a b Archived copy PDF www ey gov tw Archived from the original PDF on 18 October 2012 Retrieved 15 January 2022 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint archived copy as title link Han Cheung 29 December 2019 Taiwan in Time Unleashing the media free for all Taipei Times Retrieved 29 December 2019 The Unknown Taiwan Media Cwcmf net Retrieved 2017 01 07 Report sheds light on 1981 mystery Taipei Times 2017 01 01 Retrieved 2017 01 07 Application Control Violation PDF Tfd org tw Retrieved 2017 01 07 KMT sells media outlets The China Post Retrieved 2017 01 07 Cheung Han 29 December 2019 Taiwan in Time Unleashing the media free for all www taipeitimes com Taipei Times Retrieved 29 December 2019 Sources Edit BBC Country Profile Taiwan CIA The World Factbook Taiwan Ma Ringo 2003 Status of media in Taiwan In Encyclopedia of international media and communications Vol 4 pp 329 339 San Diego CA Academic Press Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Mass media in Taiwan amp oldid 1108706164, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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