Sunday, September 03, 2006

GROUPS CALL FOR MEDIA INTROSPECTION ON JOURNALIST'S DAY

Taipei, Sept. 1 (CNA) Representatives from media watch and human rights groups urged the Taiwan media Friday to replace celebration with introspection on Journalist's Day amid a series of human rights violations perpetrated by the local media.

The media should respect interviewees' basic human rights and bring back news topics to the public domain, MWF President Kuan Chung-hsiang said in a press conference.

"The counterattack to the media, " described by Lee Ming-tsun, a professor of sociology at National Taiwan University, was set in motion by the incident in which Taiwanese Major League pitcher Wang Chien-ming announced that he would not allow any interviews by any Taiwan media, claiming that the local media seriously invaded his parents' privacy.

The public's growing disgust with the media was also what brought various groups to the joint press conference. Participating groups included the MWF, the Association of Taiwan Journalists, the People with HIV/AIDS Rights Advocacy Association of Taiwan, gay rights-advocating Gingin Books, and the Mental Rehabilitation Association of Taipei County.

"The media has the right to report, but that does not mean it can violate human rights, " Kuan said.

Representatives also lamented the Taiwan media's prejudice against sufferers of mental disease and homosexuals in its reporting.

"The situation has come to a point where anyone could be the next victim of the media's human rights abuses. It could be a 'somebody' like Wang Chien-ming or it could be a 'nobody' like you or me, " said Lee.