President Chen Shui-bian's ruling Democratic Progressive Party has its own tools to manipulate the media, and, some say, the truth. "The Taiwan media is truly scandalous in its behavior," said Bonnie Glaser of the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. "But the government often joins in. None of them have any scruples."
Journalism watchdogs cite a $250-million budget for "persuading" stations to invite generals and other people the government wants on talk shows, to write dramatic scripts favorable to its policies and to otherwise promote its agenda.
"The Taiwanese government has been doing dollar diplomacy so long overseas, it thinks it's natural to do it at home," said Hu Yu-wei, a journalism professor at National Taiwan Normal University, referring to the government's practice of paying other governments to give it diplomatic recognition.
Small payoffs to journalists for favorable treatment -- hardly unusual in many Asian cultures with strong gift-giving traditions -- remain a problem, although media experts say the practice is on the wane.
When Lu Shih-hsiang, a professor and head of Taiwan's Foundation for the Advancement of Media Excellence, offered a course on media ethics two years ago, none of his journalism students signed up. Asked why, several said they didn't want to become "schizophrenic," constrained by boring niceties that had no place in the real world.
Double-checking information is a rarity at many news organizations, as are corrections. Reporters acknowledge big rewards in gaining an edge over competitors and little cost for getting it wrong. There's no tradition of libel suits.
"Many reporters don't check their facts," said Chen Chao-jen, a senior reporter with the TVBS network who recounted a story about a bombing in Taipei. Competitors ran a report on their 9 o'clock news saying authorities had arrested a suspect.
"I told my boss it was wrong, but he said write it anyway," Chen said. "Then at 10 o'clock, everyone runs a story saying he's not a suspect."
During last year's presidential election, stations raced to get the results first. Some reported that the Nationalists had garnered 8 million votes. After it was reported that only 6 million people had actually voted, the stations, embarrassed by their error, withheld results and announced that the data had simply stopped coming in.
