Media In Taiwan
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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 many 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. The Japanese occupation of Taiwan from 1895 to 1945 did not slow down the pace of economic modernisation on the island; the
Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT) is a major political party in the Republic of China (Taiwan). It was the one party state, sole ruling party of the country Republic of China (1912-1949), during its rule from 1927 to 1949 in Mainland China until Retreat ...
(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. 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. 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. 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 The Government Information Office, Executive Yuan (GIO; ) was a cabinet-level agency of the Executive Yuan of Taiwan, Taiwan (the Republic of China) in charge of promoting government policies and regulating media in Taiwan, domestic media. Histo ...
. 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). From 1952 to 1987, there were 31 newspapers in Taiwan, and by 1974, 44 news agencies. 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. 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 Chen Wen-chen (, sometimes romanized as ''Chen Wen-cheng'') was a Taiwanese assistant professor of mathematics (specializing in probability and statistics) at Carnegie Mellon University who died on under mysterious circumstances. After the con ...
began to disappear. 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. 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. 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 The ''Tangwai'' movement, or simply ''Tangwai'' (), was a loosely knit political movement in Taiwan in the mid-1970s and early 1980s. Although the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) had allowed contested elections for a small number of seats in the Legi ...
. 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. The then illegal opposition grouping Tangwai only took its current opposition liberal
Democratic Progressive Party The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is a centre to centre-left Taiwanese nationalist political party in Taiwan. As the dominant party in the Pan-Green Coalition, one of the two main political camps in Taiwan, the DPP is currently the ...
(DPP) form in 1986 and even then it was done illegally. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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." The ongoing anti-monopoly dispute involving
Want Want Want Want Holdings Limited (Want Want; ) is a food manufacturer and media corporation from Taiwan. It is one of the largest rice cake and flavored drink manufacturers in Taiwan. It engages in the manufacturing and trading of snack foods and bevera ...
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 The National Communications Commission (NCC; ) is an independent statutory agency of Executive Yuan of Taiwan responsible for regulating the development of the telecommunication and broadcasting industries, promoting competition and consumer prot ...
(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. 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

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 Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...
and Taiwanese, with a few channels in
Hakka The Hakka (), sometimes also referred to as Hakka-speaking Chinese, or Hakka Chinese, or Hakkas, are a southern Han Chinese subgroup whose principal settlements and ancestral homes are dispersed widely across the provinces of southern China ...
or English. There are also programs in other foreign languages, mainly east Asian and south-east Asian languages. Miniseries, called
Taiwanese drama Taiwanese drama (, also known as T.W. drama) refer to dramatic programming of television programming extended stories usually dramatizing relationships through the general range of ten to forty one-hour episodes. They are produced in Taiwan and ha ...
, are popular. There is a dedicated station for Taiwan's
Hakka The Hakka (), sometimes also referred to as Hakka-speaking Chinese, or Hakka Chinese, or Hakkas, are a southern Han Chinese subgroup whose principal settlements and ancestral homes are dispersed widely across the provinces of southern China ...
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 A tradition is a system of beliefs or behaviors (folk custom) passed down within a group of people or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examp ...
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 A set-top box (STB), also known as a cable converter box, cable box, receiver, or simply box, and historically television decoder or a converter, is an information appliance device that generally contains a Tuner (radio)#Television, TV tuner inpu ...
. The analog signal of air television was turned off on 30 June 2012.


Radio

New civilian-operated radio stations were banned in 1959. When
martial law Martial law is the replacement of civilian government by military rule and the suspension of civilian legal processes for military powers. Martial law can continue for a specified amount of time, or indefinitely, and standard civil liberties ...
was lifted in 1987, 33 legal radio channels existed, with thirteen state-owned or
Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT) is a major political party in the Republic of China (Taiwan). It was the one party state, sole ruling party of the country Republic of China (1912-1949), during its rule from 1927 to 1949 in Mainland China until Retreat ...
-run stations most prominent. In the 1990s, several underground radio station were established, many affiliated with the
Democratic Progressive Party The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is a centre to centre-left Taiwanese nationalist political party in Taiwan. As the dominant party in the Pan-Green Coalition, one of the two main political camps in Taiwan, the DPP is currently the ...
. 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 Taiwanese Hokkien ( , ), or simply Taiwanese, also known as Taigi ( zh, c=臺語, tl=Tâi-gí), Taiwanese Southern Min ( zh, c=臺灣閩南語, tl=Tâi-uân Bân-lâm-gí), Hoklo and Holo, is a variety of the Hokkien language spoken natively ...
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 Mandarin ( ; zh, s=, t=, p=Guānhuà, l=Mandarin (bureaucrat), officials' speech) is the largest branch of the Sinitic languages. Mandarin varieties are spoken by 70 percent of all Chinese speakers over a large geographical area that stretch ...
. *
Broadcasting Corporation of China The Broadcasting Corporation of China (BCC) is a broadcasting company in the Republic of China (also known as Taiwan). It was founded as the Central Broadcasting System in Nanjing in 1928. History The Central Broadcasting System is considere ...
- National and regional networks *
Radio Taiwan International Radio Taiwan International (RTI; ) is the English name and call sign of the Central Broadcasting System (CBS), national broadcaster and international radio service of Taiwan. It is a public radio station that broadcasts in 14 languages around ...
- 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 International Community Radio Taipei (ICRT; ) is Taiwan's only English-language radio station and first radio station in Taiwan that caters to foreigners. Prior to 1979, the station served the U.S. military personnel in Taiwan as the Armed For ...
- Taiwan's only national English-language station *
Public Radio System In public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influe ...
- Government-run; travel, weather, social information * Hit FM and
Kiss Radio Taiwan KISS Radio in Taiwan plays the latest Chinese music and some English, Japanese and Korean top 40 songs. There ilive streamingfrom the station in Kaohsiung. History KISS Radio was launched on 14 February 1995. KISS Radio is the first legal priv ...
both play popular Chinese music *
UFO Radio UFO Radio (also known as UFO Network) is a radio station in Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East C ...
- 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 Voice of Han Broadcasting Station () also known as Voice of Han Chinese Broadcasting Station was founded in 1942 by the Ministry of National Defense. It is headquartered on Xinyi Road in the Zhongzheng District of Taipei, Taiwan. History 1942, ...
- Military Radio Station * Fuxing Radio - Military Radio Station *
Taipei Broadcasting Station Taipei Broadcasting Station or Radio Taipei (TBS; ) is a state-owned radio station in the Republic of China (Taiwan). It has been in operation since 7 July 1961 under the direction of the Department of Information and Tourism, Taipei City Governm ...
* National Education Radio


Newspapers

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. Most popular newspapers include: *
China Times The ''China Times'' (, abbr. ) is a daily Chinese-language newspaper published in Taiwan and one of the most widely circulated newspapers in Taiwan. Founded in 1950, the China Times Group was acquired by food and media conglomerate Want Want, whi ...
(''Zhongguo Shibao'') *
Liberty Times The ''Liberty Times'' is a national newspaper published in Taiwan. Founded by Lin Rong-San, it is published by the Liberty Times Group. The newspaper was first published on 17 April 1980, as Liberty Daily, before adopting its current name in 198 ...
(''Ziyou Shibao'') *
United Daily News ''United Daily News'' (UDN; ) is a newspaper published in Taiwan. It is considered to support the pan-Blue Coalition in its editorials. History UDN was founded in 1951 by Wang Tiwu as a merger of three newspapers, ''Popular Daily'' (全民日 ...
(''Lianhe Bao'') Newspapers in English: *
Taipei Times The ''Taipei Times'' is an English-language print newspaper in Taiwan published by the Liberty Times Group. Founded as the third English-language newspaper on 15 June 1999, it is currently the last surviving English-language print newspaper i ...
(''Taibei Shibao'', ) *
Taiwan Today ''Taiwan Journal'' () is an English-language weekly newspaper published by the Government Information Office of the Republic of China (Taiwan). The newspaper, with both print and online editions, is published every Friday, 51 issues per year (no ...
(''Jinri Taiwan'', ) *
The China Post ''The China Post'' () was an English-language newspaper published in Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies betw ...
(''Yingwen Zhongguo Youbao'', ) Other newspapers: *
Commercial Times Commercial Times () is a Chinese-language financial newspaper published in Taiwan and owned by the Want Want China Times Media Group of Want Want Holdings Limited. It is currently the biggest financial paper on the island. Because of its loca ...
(''Gongshang Ribao'') *
DigiTimes DigiTimes (, stylized ) is a daily industry-newspaper published by DIGITIMES Inc. from Taiwan. As one of the earliest publications dedicated exclusively to (computer-) technology within the Chinese-speaking domain, ''DIGITIMES'' ranks alongside ...
(''Dianzi Shibao'') - IT industry news * Economic Daily News (''Jingji Ribao'') * Mandarin Daily News (''Guoyu Ribao'') - Children's newspaper, written with
Zhuyin Bopomofo, also called Zhuyin Fuhao ( ; ), or simply Zhuyin, is a transliteration system for Standard Chinese and other Sinitic languages. It is the principal method of teaching Chinese Mandarin pronunciation in Taiwan. It consists of 37 cha ...
accompanying the text * Taiwan Times (''Taiwan Shibao'') * Youth Daily News, youth civilians and military daily newspaper Ceased publication: *
Apple Daily ''Apple Daily'' ( zh, t=蘋果日報, j=ping4 gwo2 jat6 bou3) was a Chinese-language newspaper published in Hong Kong from 1995 to 2021. Founded by Jimmy Lai and part of Next Media, ''Apple Daily'' was known for its sensational headlines, ...
(''Pingguo Ribao'') *
Central Daily News The ''Central Daily News'' was the official newspaper of the Kuomintang and is one of the world's oldest Chinese language newspapers, having been in circulation since 1928. The Kuomintang made the decision to temporarily cease publication of the n ...
(''Zhongyang Ribao'') * China Times (Night) (''Zhongshi Wanbao'') *
Independence Evening Post The ''Independence Evening Post'' () was a Chinese-language newspaper founded by Wu San-lien, which was published in Taiwan from 1947 to 2001. For most of its existence, the publication was supportive of the tangwai movement and Democratic Progre ...
(''Zili Wanbao'') *
Min Sheng Bao ''Min Sheng Bao'' ( zh, c=民生報, p=Mínshēng Bào, poj=Bîn-seng-pò, l=The People's Welfare Daily) was a tabloid newspaper based in Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography ...
(''Min Sheng Bao'') * Taiwan Daily (''Taiwan Ribao'')


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 Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...
: 網咖,
Pinyin Hanyu Pinyin, or simply pinyin, officially the Chinese Phonetic Alphabet, is the most common romanization system for Standard Chinese. ''Hanyu'' () literally means 'Han Chinese, Han language'—that is, the Chinese language—while ''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. Despite the high Internet coverage in Taiwan, online-only newspapers are unfamiliar to the general public. Research by the Taiwan Media Watch Foundation (財團法人台灣媒體觀察教育基金會) in 2019 discovered that 66.8% of all interviewees do not read online-only newspapers, and almost half of all interviewee who has read online only newspapers said they only read one online newspaper. Taiwan has some
online newspapers An online newspaper (or electronic news or electronic news publication) is the online version of a newspaper, either as a stand-alone publication or as the online version of a printed periodical. Going online created more opportunities for newspa ...
available. Some of the most common media are: * '' Credere Media'' (信傳媒) (Chinese) * ''
Focus Taiwan The Central News Agency (CNA) is the national news agency of the Republic of China (Taiwan). History The CNA agency was founded , by the Kuomintang. Party member Hsiao Tung-tzu separated the CNA from Kuomintang headquarters in 1932. The agency ...
'' (English, Japanese, Spanish) * ''
Mirror Media Mirror Media () is a Taiwanese media company. It was founded in 2016 as an eponymous tabloid magazine, and also owns the subsidiaries , , , Mirror Voice (鏡好聽) and MBRAVO (鏡采創意). Background Pei Wei was chief editor and publisher of t ...
'' (鏡週刊) (Chinese) * '' Newtalk'' (新頭殼) (Chinese) * '' NOWnews'' (今日新聞) (Chinese) * '' Taiwan News'' (臺灣英文新聞) (Chinese, English) * ''
The News Lens ''The News Lens'' (TNL) is an independent digital media based in Taiwan, founded by Joey Chung and Mario Yang in 2013, with multilingual versions in Chinese, English and Japanese. Since 2017, it has maintained content partnerships with other outl ...
'' (關鍵評論網) (Chinese, English, Japanese) * '' The Reporter'' (報導者) (Chinese, English in partial) * ''
The Storm Media The Storm Media is a Chinese-language online news media headquartered in Neihu District, Taipei, Taiwan. Overview Founder Zhang Guojun was the general manager of Goldman Sachs Taipei Branch and served as a consultant to Fubon Financial Holdings ...
'' (風傳媒) (Chinese) * ''
Up Media ''Up Media'' () is a Taiwanese online news outlet established in 2016 that primarily focuses on in-depth reporting and interviews related to politics. It also covers esports news and hosts the tournament. History In early 2016, former politic ...
'' (上報) (Chinese)


Media environment

Taiwanese mass media and its staff have rather a poor reputation. The general public rated Taiwanese mass media as a whole at 5.58/10 in 2019. Cédric Alviani, Asia-Pacific Bureau Director of
Reporters Without Borders Reporters Without Borders (RWB; ; RSF) is an international non-profit and non-governmental organisation, non-governmental organization headquartered in Paris, which focuses on safeguarding the right to freedom of information. It describes its a ...
, indicated that Taiwanese mass media has suffered from
political polarization Political polarization (spelled ''polarisation'' in British English, Australian English, and New Zealand English) is the divergence of political attitudes away from the center, towards ideological extremes. Scholars distinguish between ideologi ...
, sensational reporting, and absolute power of the owners within a media. In a 2022 Reuters Institute survey, Taiwan ranked last among democracies in the Asia-Pacific region on people's level of trust in media, at a 28% trust rate. 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 Electronic news gathering (ENG) or electronic journalism (EJ) is usage of electronic video and audio technologies by reporters to gather and present news instead of using film cameras. The term was coined during the rise of videotape techno ...
(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.


See also

*
Culture of Taiwan The culture of Taiwan is a blend of Han Taiwanese and indigenous Taiwanese cultures. Despite the overwhelming Chinese culture, Chinese cultural influence and minority indigenous Taiwanese cultural influence, Culture of Japan, Japanese culture ...
*
Taiwanese drama Taiwanese drama (, also known as T.W. drama) refer to dramatic programming of television programming extended stories usually dramatizing relationships through the general range of ten to forty one-hour episodes. They are produced in Taiwan and ha ...
* Taiwan Public Television Service Foundation (PTS) *
Television in Taiwan Television in Taiwan is primarily in Chinese and English. It is delivered through analog and digital, cable, IPTV, and the Internet. Digital television Digital television launched terrestrially throughout Taiwan on 1 July 2004, using the Europ ...
* Censorship in Taiwan *
Press Freedom Index The World Press Freedom Index (WPFI) is an annual ranking of Country, countries compiled and published by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) since 2002 based upon the non-governmental organization's own assessment of the countries' Freedom of the ...


References


Citations


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. {{DEFAULTSORT:Media Of Taiwan
Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...
Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...