Taiwan's Media Reform: Objectives and Strategy

Published: November 1, 2004
By: Lin Chia-lung
Source: Government Information Office, Republic of China (Taiwan)

I. The necessity of media reform

With digital technology enabling the media to provide a greater variety and amount of content, the communications and information technology industries are moving closer to becoming the core of the future economy, democratic lifestyle, culture, entertainment, and education. With the convergence of the Internet, mobile telephony, conventional broadcasting, and print media, many communications businesses have begun to invest in new and existing technologies for content production. Independent content producers have proliferated, fulfilling most of the market demand for services. However, the market trend has been to focus investment in providing popular content without offering diverse services to meet the needs of all audiences. This is one of the important reasons why there remains an outstanding need for public broadcasting services and the positive scrutiny of media content.

For many decades, the Kuomintang (KMT) kept the media under tight political control. It was then thrown open to business conglomerates without careful planning. The result is today's populist electronic media culture, in which players fight abruptly for high ratings. From political shows to news and entertainment, local television programming as a whole is terrible in the extreme, indeed. Healthy media operations depend on providing a public platform for the presentation and discussion of political, social, and cultural issues in a detailed and rational manner. Therefore, an overall reform of the media is an extremely important project for the sustainable development of Taiwan. The poor quality of radio and television broadcasting is not inherent; rather, the problem is mainly institutional. Therefore, the restructuring of the media environment and institutions has become essential.

This problem can no longer be ignored. Top priority must be given to reforming the media. To tackle the crucial issues of media reform, we must escape the fetters and entangled interests of politics and unification-versus-independence ideology. With professional ethics, concern for Taiwan's future, and a forward-looking vision, we must be responsible in our discussions and propose restructuring plans that conform to the values and ideals of the times and offer a fundamental solution as we establish a democratic media with public credibility.

II. Visions and Goals

There are four goals for the GIO's media reform policy: first, realize the ideal of military and political party withdrawal from radio and television operations; second, establish Taiwan as one of the most energetic and competitive countries in the global radio and TV market; third, ensure nationwide access to diverse and high-quality audio-visual services; and fourth, protect the rights and interests of citizens and consumers. Allow me to share with you some of my views on these goals.

The first goal is to realize the ideal of military and political party withdrawal from radio and television operations.

One of the major functions of radio and television media is to supervise the government and prevent the abuse of power. Therefore, maintaining the independence and autonomy of radio and television, and preventing improper government interference or control is one of the important purposes of constitutionally protected press freedoms.

The second goal is to establish Taiwan as one of the most energetic and competitive countries in the world's radio and TV market.

Regulation of telecommunications and broadcasting in Taiwan has gradually fallen behind the times with the convergence of digital technology in recent years. A government unable to come up with a new regulatory framework for inter-industry operations of the telecommunications, cable television and broadcasting industries would be cause for concern about the prospects of information technology and digitalization in Taiwan. Faced with such rapidly developing industries, the government needs to offer a concise policy framework and take the initiative to promote reform in regulation.

The third goal is to ensure nationwide access to diverse and high-quality audio-visual services.

The commercialization of digital channels will be able to serve those willing to pay higher prices. For disadvantaged and minority groups and the requirements of a public forum, however, a strong public television conglomerate is needed to provide balance. Therefore, the government must ensure that citizens around the country have free access to public-service radio and television programs, and that the price of pay service is generally affordable. In formulating all regulations, we must bear in mind the importance of the following factors: (1) protection for children and the disadvantaged, (2) the prevention of crime and disorder, (3) the special needs of the disabled, senior citizens, low-income households and residents in remote areas, (4) the promotion of efficiency, including effective utilization of spectrum and telephone numbers, so as to promote innovation. The government will work with companies to plan price reductions for technologies and services under development.

The fourth goal is to protect the rights and interests of citizens and consumers.

The first priority for protecting the rights and interests of consumers is to liberalize the market and promote competition in order to provide better service in terms of choice of channels, price, quality and purchasing power. The next priority is then to maintain the quality and variety of programming, as well as the diversity of opinions and views. Finally, it is necessary to establish commonly acceptable standards for programming content. We must strike a balance between the prevention of abusive and hurtful language and the protection of freedom of speech, so as to protect the rights and interests of consumers by ensuring fairness and the right to privacy.

Citizens are more than just consumers; they deserve to enjoy the rights of media citizenship, and build a better public forum and stronger civil society. The people of Taiwan should have a stage for their own diversity and creativity, which will foster a sense of self through the culture of television and film. This is fairly significant for establishing and nourishing a Taiwanese identity.

III. Elements of Successful Media Reform

Media reform takes more than good ideas. To ensure the success of media reform and avoid repetition of past failures, it is critical that we have a firm grasp of the following elements of success:

.Government officials at the highest level must have a clear vision and goals for media reform, and implement it with strong and persistent intent.

.The authorities in charge of communications and broadcasting must clearly understand and sympathize with the reform program, in addition to moving forcefully to promote it. They must also take responsibility for the effectiveness of reform.

.Consideration must be given to timing and the political environment, priorities for the media reform program must be clearly defined, and momentum of support for reforms must be gradually built up.

.Continuous effort should be devoted to building a broad consensus among the public. At the same time, the pressure of public opinion must be directed to create a favorable environment for media reform.

.The support of media workers affected by the reform must be won through continuous communication in order to prevent an unfavorable environment that would obstruct media reform.

.The resistance of self-serving interest groups must be eliminated.

.The legislation and revision of laws necessary to promote media reform must be completed on time.

IV. Guiding Principles

I would like to propose several guiding principles for media reform.

The first principle is to emphasize the creation of incentives over the prevention of misconduct, and to re-examine current media policies and methods of implementation.

Focusing media reform on the regulation and monitoring of media content is a negative approach. Since preventing misconduct is less effective than creating incentives, we will not be able to create a sustainable environment for the development of civilized media by regulating and punishing inappropriate content. To change media culture, we need more than adversarial prevention of misconduct; rather, we need to create positive incentives. In other words, we need to create a system in Taiwan's society that encourages benign competition and cultural progress, and provide a healthy production environment. Hereof, I'm referring to a public broadcasting system.

The second principle is that reform should focus on key infrastructure.

For instance, Kuo Li-hsin wrote a newspaper article that was published on July 31, 2003 about his experience as a member of the GIO's radio and TV station examination committee. In it, he stated, "Under the old laws, regulations, and system, the examination committee, which consisted of professionals from related fields, could only resolve minor problems during its examination of applications for renewing the licenses of radio and television stations. In other words, the committee could only work on minor problems, such as advertisements that were either too long or for illegal medicine. It was unable to demand effective or substantive improvement on serious matters or those of principle."

The third principle is to employ the principles of respecting market mechanisms and encouraging free and fair competition when deciding the range and content of economic controls.

As the GIO has taken market competition and public interests as its governing principles, it has adopted a low degree of control. In other words, the GIO reduces unnecessary controls to avoid unnecessary burdens. However, the GIO still has to shoulder responsibility for maintaining public interests and should safeguard the people's rights and interests as well as market competitiveness. That is, when the market becomes competitive, the GIO will not intervene in its operation but rather encourages businesses to maintain self-discipline.

The fourth principle is to vitalize the production of radio and television digital content through public investment.

The core value of radio and television stations lies in their program content, not technology. However, advertising interests makes programs have indistinguishable content, disrupts market functions, and reduces the value of program content. Therefore, public investment and competition among public radio and television enterprises are necessary to invigorate the production of radio and television digital content.

Digital technology can be compressed to make room for more television channels. Yet, this begs the question: will increasing the number of channels automatically lead to the improvement of program quality and concern for public interest? Consequently, through market mechanisms, the GIO must ensure high quality programs and safeguard the rights and interests of the public and consumers. The latter, in particular, includes protecting children, preventing crime, maintaining public order, as well as caring for the mentally and physically disabled, elderly, low-income families, and people in rural areas.

V. Media Reform Breakthroughs

Under the above-mentioned framework, media reform should be undertaken step by step by raising systematic, concrete proposals that can be implemented within short time increments. The GIO will in the first stage carry out the following major tasks:

The first task is to deal with issues on terrestrial television.

The first task is to deal with Taiwan Television Enterprise Ltd. and Chinese Television System in making them publicly funded television stations. The Executive Yuan has chosen a public-funding policy because commercial-oriented television programs have for a long time come under strong criticism. Only by reforming the incentive mechanisms for program production and broadcasting can the present situation be improved. Reforms would de-commercialize certain television stations and make them publicly funded. This would redirect the motive for producing and broadcasting programs from the pursuit of profit to the pursuit of public interest. This would help further improve television programs and meet society's longing for diverse and informative broadcasting as well as high-quality audio-visual services.

The second task is to handle policy-level problems of broadcasting.

For over the past half century, under the control of the KMT government, major channels broadcast through radio, like those through television and other media, were controlled by the party, government, and military. Except for restrictions on the freedom of speech in political matters, there were hardly any related regulations. This resulted in the present chaotic distribution of frequencies among low-power stations that have haphazardly carved up Taiwan's broadcasting market. Most small stations relied on commercializing programs, peddling dubious medications, or engaging in other questionable business practices to survive. Many regional stations could not expand significantly without joint broadcasts, which resulted in the many regional stations that lack a local or community flavor.

The Broadcasting Corporation of China (BCC) alone commands 69 AM and FM frequencies-an object of envy to the numerous licensed and unlicensed stations alike. Moreover, many state-run high-power stations, such as the Central Broadcasting System, Voice of Han Broadcasting Network, and National Education Radio, are overstaffed and have excessive budgets. On top of that, such stations are outdated and plagued with many internal problems, and the frequencies they occupy are a waste of resources. As such, reforms call for the reorganization of broadcast frequencies to make the market structure sound.

Take BCC as a case in point. An investigation into this so-called "privately run" broadcast conglomerate shows that it takes up more than one-third of the nation's frequencies. In addition, it was demanded that the conglomerate release those frequencies for which its contracts had expired, those that were used for purposes not stated within their contracts, and those that had inefficient operations. Their return would not only be in accordance with the law, but also realize the principle of fair distribution.

The third task is resolving issues with cable television.

With a penetration rate for cable television of over 80 percent, cable television system operators provide the main platform for broadcasting television programs in Taiwan. But single providers replacing multiple providers, centralization replacing localization, and integration replacing competition are the trends that define the cable industry in Taiwan. Key players possess the power to monopolize the market. It has thus become imperative to make laws that can prevent the further concentration of cable television platforms and increase the competition in the broadcasting industry.

The policy to promote competition among television broadcasters includes three additional strategies:

1. Strengthen internal competition within the cable television system
2. Reinforce competition between cable television and other types of broadcasters
3. Effectively control monopolies within the cable television industry


The essential and most effective method among these three strategies is reinforcing competition between cable television and other types of broadcasters. In other words, by providing assistance for terrestrial digital television and promoting the development of Chunghua Telecom's MOD service, we can enhance the ability of other types of broadcasters to compete with cable television. In the foreseeable future, the people of Taiwan will have three options for watching digital television programs: The first is digital cable television, the second is Chunghwa Telecom's digital service, and the third is terrestrial digital television.

The fourth task is to integrate the three broadcasting laws.

Communication, telecommunication, and information technologies have converged, as have radio, television, and telecommunication industries. By this token, Taiwan's laws, regulations, and relevant agencies governing telecommunication and communication should be integrated as well. This intricate and grand undertaking should be conducted in orderly stages. The core of the first stage should, among other things, integrate the three existing broadcasting laws, formulate the Fundamental Telecommunications and Communications Act, and establish the National Communications Commission. The GIO currently is pursuing these ends. In the second stage, the Telecommunications Act and broadcasting laws should be further integrated.

Closing Remarks

To overcome the difficulties facing Taiwan's media at this point in time is not only the responsibility of the government and corporate operators, but also a challenge for you and me. As Minister of the GIO, it is my responsibility to unleash the power of reform and to realize the ideals and hopes that the Taiwanese people hold for the future. On this occasion, I hope that you can obtain a better understanding of my plan for media reform and that a consensus on the reform's direction can be established. We should think less from our own standpoint and more for Taiwan's general interests. Let us strive for a solid, time-enduring media policy and thoroughly implement it, thereby boosting the momentum of Taiwan's media.