On February 21, at the ruling Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) first meeting of its Central Standing Committee of the new lunar year, DPP party chairman (and ROC president) Chen Shui-bian, with an eye toward the 2004 presidential race, announced a media reform manifesto. Chen called on DPP party officials and public office holders to withdraw from management of electronic media, and he also stated that the government would abandon all management rights in those media outlets in which it holds stock. Moreover, he asked the DPP caucus in the Legislative Yuan to give priority to amending the laws governing radio and TV-especially those provisions that would exclude government, political parties, and the military from control over the media-saying that it is their duty to complete the amending process in this legislative session. He also called on the opposition KMT and People First Party (PFP) to lend their support to this effort.

Three laws are involved in the amending process, which is currently in the stage of being negotiated between the ruling and opposition parties. These are the Radio and Television Law, the Cable Radio and Television Law, and the Satellite Broadcasting Law.

Media reform in Taiwan is a very complex issue. In the many discussions of getting parties, the government, and the military out of the media business, particular attention is being focused on DPP Central Standing Committee member Trong Chai, who is also chairman of Formosa Television, and on the ties between the KMT and China Television Company (the KMT is the largest shareholder).

Following the DPP's declaration of its determination to get political institutions out of the media, KMT chairman Lien Chan called on party officials and public office holders to withdraw from all management roles in the electronic media, and promised to put all KMT-run media into blind trusts by the end of the year.

So what is the current situation in the broadcast media in Taiwan? The extent of involvement of political actors is indeed serious. Recently the Government Information Office announced the results of an investigation into the running of electronic media by holders of public office. It shows that among 366 such media outlets, 67 elected or executive branch officials are board members, managers, stockholders, or founders. Since the publication of the list of names, many of these persons have announced their resignations from these media positions.

Proposed new rules will strictly ban holders of elective or executive office from financially backing, holding stock in, or managing electronic media enterprises. While there is a consensus about these proposed changes among the ruling and opposition parties, many observers are skeptical: If politicians only withdraw from the media in form, but turn over their stock to relatives, wouldn't the rules be rendered meaningless?

Government Information Office deputy director-general Hong Chong-jan says that the proposed amendments not only say that elected officials or persons holding official posts in political parties may not operate media outlets, but the GIO is hoping to extend the scope of the law to ban any relatives within three grades of relationships (including parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins) from participating in media management. Moreover, in order to prevent any corporations from monopolizing the media, the amendments include "total volume restrictions." The new rules will ban any conglomerate from holding more than a one-quarter share of any two of Taiwan's national broadcast, cable, or satellite TV markets (based on the number of paying customers or program ratings).

With regard to the possibility of politicians exercising "remote control" over media through stock held by aides or confidantes, Hong Chong-jan admits that it would be impracticable to try to cover every possible loophole in a media ownership law. Besides hoping for self-restraint from those parties involved, the only thing to rely on is pressure from public opinion.

In fact, the media reform movement even more requires that public opinion monitors the indirect manipulation of the media by political power. The Taipei Society, a group of reformist academics, has severely criticized the DPP for making virtually all appointments to publicly owned radio, TV, and wire services into political patronage. Last October, Lin Hsiao-hsin (well-known for his promotion of community colleges) and Kuo Li-hsin, a professor in the department of broadcasting at Chengchi University, organized The Campaign for TV Democracy, and issued a scathing protest of the government's dilly-dallying on getting politicios out of the media.

Although there has been criticism of the slow pace of media reform, there has also been support of this most recent wave of reform sparked by the DPP, because it appears that this time the political parties are being much more concrete in their proposals, and are not just espousing platitudes.

So, what will happen to the several affected broadcast TV stations if political parties, the government, and the military really withdraw from them? This is an issue that scholars are paying even more attention to. Should those broadcast TV stations in which there has been state investment, such as Taiwan Television Company and Chinese Television System, get rid of all their government stock and become fully "commercialized"? Or should they be made into "public television" (PTV) stations through government purchases of privately held stock? Naturally there are different views in this debate.

Those who advocate full commercialization say the government should sell off all its stock to private buyers. They argue that enterprises can only remain vital through market competition, and only privately held stations can adjust flexibly to the demands of the market.

Those who argue for PTV say that it is precisely because of vicious market forces, combined with manipulation by politicians and conglomerates, that TV content is now so vulgar. It would be inappropriate to turn state-owned TV stations, which by rights belong to all the people, to private corporations. PTV advocates want the government to buy out all privately owned stock in these stations but withdraw from all management of operations, turning them over to professionals.

Many of the problems in Taiwan's media environment have their origins in the control exercised by political parties, the government, and the military, and these problems have been exacerbated by the influence of economic power since the liberalization of media ownership and operation. The ultimate goal of the movement to get political power out of the media is the freedom of the press sought by media professionals. The reality in Taiwan's electronic media today is that professional journalists are still not free from political manipulation. The journalism profession has been called "the Fourth Estate," and is seen as a watchdog over the other powerful elements in society. Getting political parties, the government, and the military out of the media is only the first step in media reform.