Mass media in Taiwan
[1] The Japanese occupation of Taiwan from 1895 to 1945 did not slow down the pace of economic modernisation on the island; the Kuomintang (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.
[2] 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.
[2] 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).
[5] 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.
[6] 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 began to disappear.
[7] 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.
[3] 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.
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.
If the merger is approved by the National Communications Commission (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.
[1] 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.
Exclusively Taiwanese-language 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.
A popular feature of even small towns are internet cafes (Chinese: 網咖, 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.
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 (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.
