It's BBC reporting on the trial Ma Ying-jeou, once mayor of Taipei, once Chairman of the KMT, now an accused embezzler, which opened today. So we need not belabor the point that everything important to the context will be left out. The BBC reports:Taiwan opposition leader and presidential hopeful Ma Ying-jeou has gone on trial in a corruption case which could hit his 2008 hopes.
He is accused of misappropriating T$11.2 million ($339,000) of funds while mayor of the capital, Taipei.
Mr Ma resigned from his position as head of the Kuomintang party shortly after the charges were announced, but said he would clear his name. He has denied graft charges, and is a frontrunner in the presidential race.
So far, so good. Just a short summary. So what does the report go on to say?
Mr Ma, a US-educated lawyer who is expected to defend himself, was in confident mood as he arrived at court.
Ma is not a lawyer. He has never passed the bar either in Taiwan or the US. Where did this claim come from? Everyone says it, for example, AP.
"I am confident of my innocence and I trust in the justice of the court," he said, as a crowd of Kuomintang (KMT) supporters cheered.More summary.
Mr Ma was charged with improper use of government funds in February - and resigned as KMT chairman, protested his innocence and pledged to stand for president all at once.
He is facing four rivals from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) who are seeking nomination from their party.
The candidates are Vice President Annette Lu, Premier Su Tseng-chang, former premier Frank Hsieh, and former party chairman Yu Hsyi-kun.
The investigation into his finances began in mid-November after allegations that he had shifted money from a special fund into a personal account during his time as mayor, from 1998 to 2006.
Note how the article does not inform the reader that the money is definitely in the account -- Both Ma and his lawyer have admitted it. Their defense is that Ma never had any intention to steal the money even though he downloaded into his personal accounts and kept it. Vitally important context omitted, and the omission favors Ma. Can you imagine if the BBC report had mentioned what anyone can find on Wiki?
In addition to those incidents that give rise to public doubt on his competency, Ma has also been criticized for his involvement in several alleged scandals. His filings for the compulsory financial disclosure shows that his household net worth increased by more than NT$43 million (US$1.3 million)between 1993 and 2004, at a rate irreconcilable with his living standards, his two daughters in Ivy League schools and his identified income sources. Ma dismissed the criticism with a quotable line: “I spend less than US$10 a day and I only have an old patched suit.”
The BBC then goes on to say:
If convicted, he would face at least seven years in prison. However, prosecutors have already asked for leniency because of his co-operation with the investigation.
Here's what I said the last time that the BBC used this exact set of sentences to describe Ma's indictment. "Context is often impaired in the international media due to the exigencies of time and space, but the BBC's accounts make a special habit of eliminating key context (here's why!)." That applies here too. To understand why the prosecutor might ask for leniency, in addition to Ma's cooperation, the reader would also have to know that the prosecutor who conducted the investigation had Ma for a witness at his wedding, that the prosecutor's offices in Taiwan are largely pro-Blue, and that Ma has publicly threatened the bureaucrats who don't come up with answers he wants. Not one iota of this context appears here -- because it would spoil the nice clean narrative that the BBC wants to project. Sadly, this very human urge to create narrative rather than report reality in all its messiness too often favors the KMT.
UPDATE: Runsun points out below that the article has now been changed. Previously, as I quoted above, it said:
Mr Ma, a US-educated lawyer who is expected to defend himself, was in confident mood as he arrived at court.
I pointed out that Ma has never passed the Bar and is not a lawyer. The article now reads, as of April 4, 10:20 am here in Taiwan:
Mr Ma, who studied law in Taiwan and the US, is expected to defend himself. He was in confident mood as he arrived at court.
Yesterday I fired off a letter to one of the local BBC reporters commenting on this. Is there a connection? Impossible to know, but it is sure nice to see that someone in the international media has stopped spreading this error. As Darwin once pointed out, false theories are easy to shoot down, but false facts are almost impossible to get rid of. Thanks, Beeb.
[Taiwan] [media] [corruption] [Ma Ying-jeou] [BBC]
"Ma is not a lawyer. He has never passed the bar either in Taiwan or the US. Where did this claim come from?"
ReplyDeleteLook at the article again.
raj:"Look at the article again"
ReplyDeleteThe current article reads:
"Mr Ma, who studied law in Taiwan and the US, is expected to defend himself."
What Michael quoted:
"Mr Ma, a US-educated lawyer who is expected to defend himself."
in which a US-educated lawyer makes more sense than who studied law to come together with the following "is expected to defend himself."
I believe BBC changed the text after their error was pointed out.
Look at wording in the AP report:
ReplyDelete"the handsome, 56-year-old Harvard-educated lawyer told the court ..."
Wow wow wow ... hold on ... is that a term that should show up in a news report ? Not a single one of my friends think Ma is handsome.
Who the hell is this reporter PETER ENAV anyway? Another Lee Ming? Is he trying to brainwash readers?
I wonder why would AP risk its reputation by hiring journalists like them.
In BBC's report:
ReplyDelete"but said he would clear his name"
What Ma actually said is that he would clear his name by campaigning for the President seat.
BBC conviniently cuts the second half off.
What it means by "clear his name by campaigning for the President seat" ? I believe that BBC knows the negative side well and that's why they want to keep readers from knowing it.
News articles leave out facts about Chen Shui-bian, too. It's quite common and one's taste for brevity may not agree with that of another, especially if their political opinions are on the opposite sides of the spectrum!
ReplyDeleteThis trial makes things quite a bit more complicated for the 2008 race because it and its indictment was so conveniently timed to interfere (too convenient for the DPP, should I say?) with Ma's presidential campaign.
Somehow I still feel that the BBC, CNN et al are still a little bit less sensationalist than the local Taiwan media.
News articles leave out facts about Chen Shui-bian, too. It's quite common and one's taste for brevity may not agree with that of another, especially if their political opinions are on the opposite sides of the spectrum!
ReplyDeleteThe BBC's pro-KMT bias is well documented here and elsewhere. See my post on the Timeline (click on HERE'S WHY in the post above) Can you point to a BBC article that leaves out key context on Chen, and explain what is left out?
This trial makes things quite a bit more complicated for the 2008 race because it and its indictment was so conveniently timed to interfere (too convenient for the DPP, should I say?) with Ma's presidential campaign.
If the Blues didn't want people going after their abuse of funds, they probably should not have raised the issue in the first place. Ma's alleged looting of the special funds has been talked about for years. Did the Blues really think they could after Chen and nobody would go after them? They themselves set Ma up.
Somehow I still feel that the BBC, CNN et al are still a little bit less sensationalist than the local Taiwan media.
Of course. Who claimed anything different?
Michael
Re Ma's legal qualifications, I remember reading something years ago that Ma was an associate at the Manhattan law firm of Cole & Dietz. This firm no longer exists. Regardless, he is not shown as being a currently registered New York lawyer.
ReplyDeleteKenneth Choy
Ma said, "I am confident of my innocence and I trust in the justice of the court."
ReplyDeletePlease tell me where is the trust and where is justice when Ma also said he would run for president regardless of the trial's outcome? And where was Ma's respect for the law when he twice launched (and failed) motions in the LY to recall President Chen, before any charges were brought forth against the First Lady?
Ma said, "I am confident of my innocence and I trust in the justice of the court."
ReplyDeletePlease tell me where is the trust and where is justice when Ma also said he would run for president regardless of the trial's outcome? And where was Ma's respect for the law when he twice launched (and failed) motions in the LY to recall President Chen, before any charges were brought forth against the First Lady?