Sold out!The news media's image has been seriously eroded by sensationalistic, lowbrow news content and selling its soul to advertisers has gutted it of moral values and credibility.
As the fourth power, independent of politics and commerce, the news media should theoretically keep their news departments separate from their advertising, marketing, and sales departments. This would enable journalists to make decisions on news perspectives based on professional judgment, without fear of outside interference. From the standpoint of audiences, news and advertising deliver two different types of message. Ads should not be dressed up as news, and to avoid influencing the fairness and objectivity of reports, journalists should not have any conflicts of interest with their information sources.
That's how it should operate in theory. But the "commercial"-ization of news has been part and parcel of Taiwan's media for a number of years. Today, with advertising profits down sharply, this practice, once considered "uncouth," is now brazenly touted as a policy of "media/industry cooperation." Journalists of major papers, who in the past were respected and could hold their heads up high, have been reduced to newsmongers who are required to dig up dirt and use their connections to sell advertising space and promotional features to the very people they are interviewing, and even demean themselves to promote sales of their papers. Each of these tasks has been written into their monthly performance evaluations. The print media can sell the headline news position to advertising agencies for over NT$100,000 a pop. A huge percentage of the news put out on TV is merely "product placement" paid for by event organizers. What's more, it's all too common to see the sales director take the helm in the news department.
To increase revenue, the media has not only flung open the gates to "media/industry cooperation," it has begun moonlighting in everything from retail, travel, and real estate to exhibitions and event management. It then turns around and churns out advertisements for these activities on its own pages, dealing a serious blow to the impartiality of its reporting.
It is often difficult for readers and viewers to distinguish between reports that contain news worthy of the name and bogus pieces purchased by advertisers and presented as anything from new achievements in industry and breakthroughs in medicine to introductions to restaurants and holiday events. The media is no longer a watchdog; rather, it has become the mouthpiece of advertisers. This is especially true of entertainment, retail, and cultural news and has resulted in a dearth of cogent and reliable reporting in these areas.
Formerly with the China Daily News, senior journalist Caroline Lin believes the core value of news reporting should be seeking the truth and that the policy of media/industry cooperation is tantamount to selling out the autonomy of the reporter. It's a no-brainer that over time, the public's confidence in the media will continue to plumb ever lower depths. If the media is to be compelled to mend its ways, clear-minded readers and viewers, and capable groups dedicated to policing the media, must join ranks to create a counterweight to the media's power.
All of this depends first and foremost on whether or not the people of Taiwan can wake up to their mass media rights as citizens.