The International
Federation of Journalists (IFJ) joins its affiliate the Association of Taiwan
Journalists (ATJ) in expressing concern about the details of the sale of Next
Media’s Taiwan Holdings and the potential threat posed to media diversity and
press freedom in Taiwan.
It was first reported
in mid-October by local media that media mogul Jimmy Lai planned to sell his
Taiwan-based print and television assets to a consortium including Jeffrey Koo,
the chairman of Chinatrust Charity Foundation, William Wong, chairman of the
Formosa Plastics Group (FPG), and a Singapore-based private equity fund.
Concerns over the impact on media diversity as a
result of the sale have heightened following confirmation of the dominance of Want Want China Times Group (WWCT)-- whose Chairman tycoon Tsai Eng-meng, is
largely seen as pro-Beijing--in the US$601.2 million deal has been confirmed.
The deal includes the
sale of Taiwan’s Chinese-language newspapers, Apple Daily, Sharp Daily, as well
as Next Magazine and Next TV.
Apple Daily is one of
the most widely circulated newspapers in Taiwan, with over two million readers,
and has been critical of the Communist Party regime of China (PRC) and has held an independent
editorial stance toward Taiwan`s Chinese Nationalist Party (Kuomintang or KMT)
government.
On November 19, the
ATJ, together with the associated Taiwan News Media Industrial Union, filed a
formal complaint to the Executive Yuan (Taiwan’s Cabinet), the Financial
Supervisory Commission (FSC), the Fair Trade Commission, the National
Communications Commission (NCC) and the Council for Labor Affairs that urging them
“not [to] passively wait until the transaction contract signing is completed
but take positive action to investigate and halt this illegal merger.”
The complaint
outlines concerns that the sale could potentially violate laws relating to the separation
of finance and industry as the acquisition of Next Media (Taiwan) by WWCT would
tip the Group’s control over the print news industry to nearly 50 percent.
The ATJ has warned that
such a degree of concentration would “violate the anti-monopoly and fair
competition stipulations of the Fair Trade Law and the three laws regulating
wireless television, cable and satellite and the broadcasting and radio
industries.”
The ATJ and other
journalist organistations therefore urged the Commission to closely inspect the
deal in relation to the likely impact on press freedom, and also the potential
implications for media diversity. They also urged the Commission to investigate
the sacking by Next Media Taiwan of more than 10 percent of its workforce before
the deal was announced, which prompted several employees to complain to the
labour authorities and ask for negotiations to protect their rights and
interests.
Similar appeals were
issued on November 19 by the four new labour unions which represent the main
units of Next Media (Taiwan), namely Apple Daily, Sharp Daily, Next Weekly and
Next Television.
In a show of
solidarity, over 100 journalists from unions of Apple Daily in Taiwan and Hong
Kong’s Next Media Union voiced their concerns on November 20 outside the building of Apple Daily in Hong Kongwhen they met the Editor-in-Chief of Hong Kong Apple Daily, originally a
subsidiary of the Group.
Those in attendance wore black T-shirts and facemasks with signs calling for “Freedom”
and featuring the slogan “We Don’t Want Black Hands.”
“We again call on the
Government of Taiwan to ensure that editorial independence and workers’ rights
are protected under the new ownership” said the IFJ Asia Pacific.
“We join the ATJ in
calling on the relevant regulatory authorities to ensure that the sale of Next
Media does not harm press freedom in Taiwan. We also call on the Government to
guarantee that the new owners respect the union’s legal standing to represent
employees in collective bargaining processes.”
The IFJ
represents more than 600,000 journalists in 131 countries
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