Impediments to Journalistic Ethics: How Taiwan’s Media Market Obstructs News Professional Practice

Abstract

Journalistic ethics becomes an elusive concept in Taiwan’s overcrowded and highly competitive media environment, even though its press system has been regarded as one of the freest in Asia. To explore the lived experiences of media professionals in the island nation, in-depth interviews with 20 current and former media professionals were conducted. Study findings indicate that external, internal, and market forces obstruct the ethical practice expected of journalists. This study examines the alienation and powerlessness of individual reporters facing the structural and systemic impediments, and also impediments to Taiwan journalistic standards.

Notes

^1. See www.atj.org.tw

^2. Scholars including Jamieson (1993) and Mathewson (2009) have stated differing perspectives on whether or not the U.S. Constitution expressly provides freedom of the press.

^3. Want Want group, owned by Tsai Eng-Meng, is a China-based corporation that has been particularly strong in foods and hotels. The group, financially subsidized by China, has purchased a great number of media firms in Taiwan in the past decade.

^4. The scholars interviewed journalists from Mainland China and Hong Kong as well. We have included only findings most relevant for the current study.

⁵ Language and social interaction researchers have strong differences of opinion regarding how to gather, analyze, and even report research results (Lindlof & Taylor, 2011).

^6. The Apple Daily is the newspaper with largest circulation in Taiwan, which is known for its criticism of the Communist Party (Cook, 2013) and pro-China Taiwanese politicians, investigative journalism, and sometimes salacious reporting (Freedom House, 2013).

^7. Product placement is a term used in Taiwan to describe the practice of placing advertising information in editorial content without informing the audience/reader. There are variations to it (such as convergent practice or embedded marketing) but it all pertains to the same unethical practice.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Boston University.