Taiwan

Taiwan, officially the Republic of China, is a liberal democracy and the world’s 21st largest economy that generally respects the principles of media freedom. However, its journalists still suffer from a very polarised media environment dominated by sensationalism and the pursuit of profit.

Media landscape

Taiwan's print media consumption is significantly decreasing while online media outlets and social media such as Yahoo!, Etoday Online, TVBS News online and Line News are widely used. Television is the second most used news source, with TVBS News, Eastern Broadcasting News (ETTV), and Sanlih E-Television News (SET News) being the most watched channels in the country. Public Television Service, an independent public broadcaster, scores as the most trusted TV channel in Taiwan despite its small budget and audience, while business publications, such as CommonWealth Magazine and Business Weekly, are the most trusted sources of news.

Political context

The media landscape, although free, suffers from strong political polarisation, undeclared advertising, sensationalism, and the pursuit of profit, which hinders the work of journalists and can prevent citizens from accessing objective information.

Legal framework

In recent decades, few concrete measures have been taken by consecutive Taiwanese governments to improve journalists’ editorial independence and encourage media to raise the quality of public debate. Most media professionals work under undue pressure from their boardrooms and cannot rely on effective legal protection to refuse unethical journalistic demands.

Economic context

For a market of almost 24 million people, Taiwan has a rich media environment with around 600 TV and radio broadcasters. Satellite television is the main source of broadcasting revenues.

Sociocultural context

The Taiwanese have one of the lowest levels of trust in media amongst democracies, scoring last place in the Asia-Pacific region with only a 28% trust rate, according to a Reuters Institute survey in 2022. The structural weaknesses of the Taiwanese media make them particularly vulnerable to disinformation attacks, especially by the Chinese government.

Safety

Despite a relatively positive situation and lack of systemic security issues, some journalists have been targeted with lawsuits in recent years, as well as being verbally attacked in connection with their reporting. Some politicians have publicly disparaged the media.