tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post8626205840725082214..comments2023-10-22T18:25:39.688+08:00Comments on The View from Taiwan: Pic of the Day: ....and kiss your ass good byeMichael Turtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17974403961870976346noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-74904939210368666792011-04-12T10:04:51.989+08:002011-04-12T10:04:51.989+08:00Dear Bleditor,
Several non-Taiwanese media outlet...Dear Bleditor,<br /><br />Several non-Taiwanese media outlets insert weekly English-language<br />supplements in some newspapers published<br />in Taiwan. One of them in a Chinese-langauge newspaper, the United<br />Daily News, which every Tuesday inserts<br />a 12-page weekly edition of a selection of English-language New York<br />Times news articles, complete with reporter bylines<br />and a front page that tells readers the insert is from the New York<br />Times. One English-language newspaper in Taiwan, the China Post,<br />publishes an 8 page insert every Friday in its daily edition, called<br />"China Reports." However, this insert in the Post does not tell<br />readers who is sponsoring or writing the stories in the insert, nor<br />are there any bylines at all. The stories are all about China, and<br />never<br />discuss Taiwan or cross-strait issues.<br /><br />But while the New York Times and the United Daily News are upfront<br />about their relationship and tell readers so, the China Post hides<br />the fact that it is getting the "China Reports" insert directly from<br />the China Daily in Beijing, China. And yet the Post does not tell<br />readers<br />that every story in the insert was written by Chinese reporters<br />working for the Chinese government. Nor does the Post tell its readers<br />that<br />the insert is sponsored by the Chinese Communist Party in Beijing as<br />part of its overseas outreach.<br /><br />Just as the New York Times should be allowed to print an insert in the<br />United Daily News, so too should the China Daily be allowed<br />to run an insert in the China Post. In Taiwan, there is freedom of<br />speech. However, the China Post, by hiding the name of the<br />organization<br />and country inserting the "China Reports: in its Friday edition, is<br />not following the law. Or is it legal now to publish soft propaganda<br />from<br />a foreign nation without telling readers who is behind the media operation?<br /><br />Sincerely,<br /><br />NAME WITHELD<br />Taipei, TaiwanAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com