岩花館

研究緣起

RIPE研討會（Re-visionary Interpretations of the public Enterprise，中譯：公共事業詮釋的再想像）創立於1997年，由芬蘭公共電視台與Tampere大學協力主辦，日後每2年舉辦1次並對外徵稿，徵稿內容以各類公共廣電媒體議題為核心。2014年RIPE國際研討會由日本公共媒體NHK與慶應大學獲得主辦權，並以「Public Service Media Across Boundaries」（跨界的公共媒體）為主題，再分不同子題對外徵稿。該研討會與會講者多元，包括各國公共電視研究與經營工作者。

 

本會工程部程宗明與研發部李羏2位研究員，以「The shifting cross-boundary influences on PSM: The case study of Taiwan Public Television Service formation (2006-2013)」一主題，投稿RIPE研討會並獲通過。岩花館亦同步刊登研究論文，以供外界參考。

 

 

註1. 本研究以英文撰寫，相關中文資料可參閱「出國報告」專區參考：

http://info.pts.org.tw/open/hrm_staff_2014.html

 

註2. 對本屆研討會其他發表論文有興趣者，可參考2014年RIPE活動網站：http://ripeat.org/conference2014/

 

The shifting cross-boundary influences on PSM: The case study of Taiwan Public Television Service formation (2006-2013)

 

 

1. Introduction

 

Taiwan Public Television Service Foundation (PTS) have been suffered from the scanty budget for a long time since the Legislative and the Executive Yuan planned the short-term HDTV launching project without further maintenance finance from FY 2006. On the other hand, the public, academy, and social groups reached no consensus on the next phase of digitization to transform PSB into PSM but focusing on political interference between partisan politics. The issue of media and emerging democracy is still the concentration of researching PSB in Taiwan (Jebril, Stetka, and Loveless, 2013).

 

Considering with this regard, the government and PTS continually conducted the terrestrial digital television switchover (DSO) and the high definition television (HDTV) policy through one-off grants to PTS for launching new service spanned 2006 to 2011. This model not only successfully upgraded the communication service in Taiwan but also temporarily solved PTS’ funding issue. Against this mode, however, the civic groups or so call social movement organizations (SMOs) strongly insisted that PTS supposed to be funded based on regressive license-fee scheme according to the European model of Public Television Act to sustain her independence. Any form of the government grant could be a harmful effect due to the political interference within. However, the media professionals and Trade Union of PSM accepted either public fund or government grant enhancing the capability of public TV in timely keeping abreast of technology revolution.

 

According to Galtung (1999), the social boundary of communications system-making is divided by state, capital and civil society. It placed the civil society as the basic force to establish the public interest-driven media, including public service broadcasting. Currently, this structure is changing in Taiwan by the representative forces above involving into this regional case of public broadcasting media policy formation. This paper argued that a new formation of policy making is redrawing the shape of the supporters for public-interest based mass media entangled with previous representative of public which endorsed with another independent and new social-activism based media. Those public struggled with the politics of media issue and confronted with the forces of People’s Republic of China. They emphasized the Taiwan Public Television Service should keep the arm length distance from the State in the first place even losing the sound long-term finance and planning institutionally.

The original backup force of public service broadcasting is crumbling. And the new erecting pillar for PTS is reorganized along the professional group networking from trade union to informed public (Hamelink and Nordenstreng, 2007; Nissen, 2014). What the similar transition is resemblance with those of Asian countries in South Korea (Kwak, 2012), Hong Kong (Leung, 2007), Thailand (Rodloytuk, 2011) is also highly put into consideration here.

 

State

Market

Media

Civil Society

 

Figure 1.1. Galtung’s proposal for Media and Society Pillars (1999)

 

For example, the lessons learnt within the 4^th Governing Board of PTS from 2008 to 2013 is a typical of friend & foe encounter. Once the long-term supporting social group, after obtained the governing power and leadership of Public Television Service Foundation, turned out to be the oppression force in removing PTS colleague who endowing with the project of Public Service Television Group. The Governing Board of PTS re-grouped the finance and resource together for establishing a politicizing movement highly targeted with the reconciliation affairs between the Nationalist Party government and Mainland China regime. The original supporters of social group aimed at the extreme political reporting on highly critical issue of Two Straits. Those interests distorted the public interest mandate of PTS in forcing out the professionals who work there then re-align together into trade union. The social forces are divided on PSB issue and a new PSB model structured by state, civil society, and market is laid out. This article tentatively proposed that the boundary of three-pillar influencing media is changing according to the Taiwan case and the other relevant events in Asia.

 

2. A Theoretical Review and Research Categorization

 

The PSB concept worldwide reached a consensus by making the broadcasting of the people, by the people and for the people (CMRTV, 2001). The people in public are likely to readdress as citizen (Wenzel, 2011). Citizen in front of TV is meant a public affair-oriented searcher or receiver rather than a consumption-oriented audience only counted for rating profits. Therefore, a civil society, marching into a popular transforming power, was connected to transform state-owned broadcasting into a public-one. Either politics or capital, public broadcasting system should keep away from those power bloc resided within industrial society. It seems to utilize the Galtung’s model of three-pillar media structure by placing public media in the same distance from State and Market but attracted by the civil society into its base (Nordenstreng, 2009).      

 

However, the public service broadcasting is facing its facility obsolete and channeling the video stream to internet, then should be transformed into public service media (Donders, Paulwels and Loisen, 2012). A new generation of young audience, once leaves the TV screen and absorbs into web-based world, churns out its prosumer experience (Glowacki, 2014). The public interest based program is easily produced than one did in the analogy age. It drives the public attention for taking part into public affairs from public broadcasting service to the web 2.0 interactive service. Although the PSB moved its foot step toward the new media (internet connected), the new generation of audience is marching into a new universe without any traditional media trace. The core of PSB now is striking by a new turbulence of new media. It challenges where public support is harboured when public broadcasting is nowhere to receive.

 

Taking the Galtung’s three-pillar model into consideration, a new media extended the scope of traditional media transformation by pulling the civil society away from public media. If the research built the horizontal axis from old to new media interacted with the vertical axis from state-oriented to civil society-oriented institutions, a scanty successful projects of state-oriented new media is found if there is no strong branding strategy bundling with PSB (except BBC iPlayer) either in state institutionalization or civil society one during new media age (Facebook, Twitter, Youtube etc),

 

  

State-oriented institution

Old Public Media

New Public Media

Terrestrial Broadcasting                   Media   Quality Newspaper

Community Radio     VCR       BBS discussion            group

Public operated Video Platform            National Digital Archive Public Broadcasting Service Web TV         Web Public Journalism

Citizen Journalism         Blog Social Media                     Facebook                     Web portal

 

 

Civil Society-oriented institution

 

 

Figure 2.1 New and Old Public Media Divided by Different Institutionalizations

Source: authors

 

Especially, after the Arab Spring Movement, public broadcasting is not well addressed its significance of reform within the changing politics (Glowacki and Jackson, 2014; Smith, 2012). Comparatively, the governors board of PSB nominated by parliamentary politics is insulated from the radical politics movement (Jakubowicz, 2007). In the recent years, the extreme politics is rising from the internet political activism and the fast track of globalized ideals on reform. However, long before those developments, it was critical to observe two contrasting cases in U.S. and South Korea for telling a different scenario ten years before. First, the weaken Public Broadcasting Service in U.S., without national coverage and scale, forced social movement organizations to establish their own media organ for campaign. It divided the joint-effort of mainstream media reform to form a strong PSB European Model in U.S. Also, the social movement media is enormously focused attention on their own agenda excluding the ones of large citizen participation. (Downing, 2006; Aufderheide and Clark, 2008)

 

We might point out the strategies adopted by media reform activist. Although media reform activism usually affiliates with other social groups to work for media reform that temporarily motivated by perceptions of hostile media stereotypes. The “regime of news objectivity” makes media worker, such as journalists, unwilling to be cooperated with any particular interest groups. Those advocators, so called insiders/policy makers, prefer getting more professional media workers involved to raise issues of editorial integrity in the name of traditional professional values. By contrast, the outsiders (the general social movement groups) choose to pressure the media from outside to modify the message dominated by main stream media (content-oriented). Above all, the distance between the general social movement and media democracy movement would be distinguished (Hackett and Adam, 1999).    

 

In South Korea, a robust social movement went into power after the handover of Presidency from the authoritarian to new democratic party. However, this transition brought the uneven interest sharing between the close-tied civic groups and the general citizen groups. Moreover, the previous senior members of oppositional party and civic groups transferred into the high-ranking posts of government, statutory committee, and national enterprise. Those figures turned out to be sided with political interest and harvest the resource pouring back to reinforce the civic group they came from. This is the problematic of citizen participation into media policy in Korea during 21^st Century (Jung, 2006; Kwak, 2012). Above two cases illustrated earlier that either in the decentralized media system or centralized media one, social movement groups for media reform would be driven by their exclusive goal in resisting endlessly to the state or coerced other civic society members. There is a following model could be shaped out according to above progress by using horizontal axis of the status of social movement from the past to future conflated with vertical axis of different media system from the centralized one (South Korea) to the decentralized one (United States) as follows,

 

Social Movement Group and for Media Reform

 

Centralized Media System

Decentralized Media System

Opposition

Politicize

Domination   Defensive  Divided                      Coercive

Protest      Criticize          Alternative

Organized     Critics       Autonomy

Reform                Resistance

 Figure 2.2 The Function of Social Movement Group for Media Reform during Politicizing Itself

Source: authors

 

This research found that there is almost enormous significance of looking at two paralleling models (figure 2.1 & 2.2) to tackle the conflict issues between civic group and public broadcasting media when the radical politics is highly promoted by internet media activism. These diagrams assumed that when public service broadcasting is replaced by internet media as the social movement group used to be associated with most likely, the social movement media are strengthened greatly by using internet connection. If the social group is aiming at media reform for a national service, the movement practitioners once being recruited into the public media when the new democracy is transferred upon them by regular election, they are likely to fight for justice and righteous institutionally

 

After the governance of public media is controlled by social movement organization, the ideology of new managing staffs clashed with the one of professionals in planning and operation within internal fight. The professionals encountered with social groups is one of contemporary issues of PSB governance during transforming (Alonso and Viso, 2012; Kwak, 2012). This research assumed that in the beginning, the management would preach the reform plan to all employees. Faced any disagreement with new ideology, the dissident workers should be disciplined by Controller and the conflict is deteriorated.

However, the social movement groups are aiming at reforming individual media or civil controlled media, rather than at management, those groups will join the media practitioners to report advocacy journalism in resistance to any institutional control or politics. Either as in-house production or commissioned by institutional public media, they are determined to realize the goal of SMOs at all cost. The journalism they committed usually generated four tensions between the events and the institutions they affiliated to (Plaut, 2014),

 

 

Referring back to normative theories of media, the typologies of grouping media is structuring in an interesting enquiry regarding recent development of this research proposing. First, Nordenstreng suggested (2009), a study on this relevant topic could divided by three levels: (1) by describing what is the phenomenon; (2) by explaining the nature of the phenomenon; (3) by determining what the phenomenon should be. This article proposed, with the recent observation in mind (the Taiwan case and the relevant cases of Asia around), that the political confrontation within each nation’s terrain should critically develop a new pattern of structuring state, civil society with media. The first-two level should be answerable during this stage. Based on the Nordenstreng’s thesis, the assumption of media functions is clearly mapping out in the following figure by overlapping the types and normative roles of contemporary media structure with each other ,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

	Institutional Power

 

 

Media Dependency

 

Commercial

Partisan

Pluralistic

Alternative

Open Access

Closed Access

Collaborative

Facilitative

Media Autonomy

Observer

Participant

Radical

Monitorial

People Power

  

 

       Normative Role                 Media Type

Figure 2.3 The Conflation Map of the Types and Roles of Media

Source: arranged by authors from Nordenstreng (2009)

 

Putting the types and normative roles of two models together, the research was shed the light from Nordenstreng’s endeavour by detailing the media used as social forces confronting the institutional (legislation binding) power. The legislative modeling media (public service broadcasting as the core) is positioned by ethics and code of public interest and the regulation of public access. As a result, the Observer type is a site allowing Institutional Power to have impact on media work in vertical axis. On the other side of horizontal axis is the Media Dependency as a guarantee for open access in certain way. In so doing, People power is functioning as Participant type. And other than the participants controlling the media use, the types of Partisan and Commercial, enshrined with a Media Autonomy, situated the public faced Closed Access-typed ones who has claimed to serve them.

 

A new explanatory model of normative function is now working as follows. In the public media domain, public service broadcasting traditionally served the pluralistic society and collaborated with State in democratic transition (including the digitization). Secondly, for connecting to the web, a citizen journalism is launching for video journalism on internet facilitated the public contribute into the inform mandate of PSB. This development is also complied with the principle of alternative media. Thirdly, a nearly revolution proclaimed groups for a new democracy, emphasized the autonomic thinking and concealed action plan before a determined shot struck with institutions. The media they hold are closed access to public in the critical time. Its political ideology is served the partisan media in nature. Fourthly, an objective reporting continuously followed the agenda setting by institutional power- play although its functioning is monitor of the abuse of power. Most of those media are commercially funded and regulated by liberal democracy rule. A Taiwan case is developed along this guideline in transforming the origin of PSB model into a critical one.  

 

3. A New Struggle for Media Governance in Taiwan PSB

 

3.1 The PSB Occupied by SMO and Regained by Professionals

 

The public service broadcasters is faced both the technological and political challenge in recent days. The sea change of mediascape brought the PSB into the turmoil of digitalization. PSB has been driven by technological factor into digital broadcasting. However, it is not sooner than the booming of internet before DTV obtained the mature stage. After TV or video connected with internet, public television is losing its hold with young generation dramatically. The social media and internet video streaming are forcing PSB transform into the public service media (Lowe and Bardoel, 2007).

 

Taiwan PTS is keeps abreast of new technology transfer. The development above is well received by broadcasting industry and ready to be transferred. However, the big challenge of it faced in the last six-year is not the technological impact but the political one. After the Democratic Progressive Party stepped down from the Presidential Election in 2008, the supporting social movement groups reinforced their resistance within public service broadcasting, as one of many sites they settled (Rampal, 2011). PTS was tactically captured by one of pro-green camp’s groups (Humanistic Education Foundation, HEF as the led) by holding the Chairman, Deputy-Chairwoman, few Directors of Governing Board, and the Presidents with its own hands (Cheng, 2012).

 

From 2008 to 2010, the management and governing board of PTS is equipped with defensive approach to tackle with the regulation by a returning authoritarian regime as they targeted (Nationalist Party). In the meantime, this same defensive public service broadcaster scaled down the size of PTS group to establish a realist approach to operate with limited budget from personal donation and minimum legal appropriation as they proposed.

 

This new governing structure created consequently internal fight before the returning Nationalist Party government decided to take part into. Its arguing issues followed the distrust line with the State. The first run-nominated 4^th Governing Board asked for a renovation of Public Television Service Foundation to relocate the news staffs served the previous PSB Group Project. This initiative is highly politicized for the following significances:

 

 

1. To break the integrative news desk operation and energize the collapse of Public Television Service Group by the President of PTS (previous Producer in News Dept.) as her political promise of running campaign

 

2. Therefore, this decision was reinforcing the resistance of PTS News Department to PSB Group Policy by held the post of President with the support of some dissident news staffs

 

3. Implicitly, President was supported by radical News Staffs in order to regain the control of editorial and reporting for concentrating on the criticism of Nationalist Party and Communist China.

 

4. The rise of PTS Trade Union membership is activated by sensing the political move of President and her supporting colleague, including the leading members of Humanistic Education Foundation and Governing Board.

 

5. PTS Labour Union was transformed into a full-fledge workers’ alliance for correcting management error and leadership failure

 

6. The independent researchers and following, National government recognized the claims of Labour Union by nominating one seat of Employee Directorship in the third-run of 4^th PTS Board of Governor recruitment in the mid of 2009.

 

 

After the ex-News/Documentary Producer was elected by 4^th Governing Board to be the President, a supporting force to PTS was spilt into two parts. One is original of PSB Group developing track practitioners with professionals registered into Trade Union. The other is the stakeholders of political mission in resistance to State, Nationalist Party and Communist China for establishing a sovereign Taiwan and fulfilling the goals of civil society organization. Now, the three pillars situating mass media should be revised within Taiwan local experience. This review found that an original structure was struck into parts,

 

 

State

Market

Public Broadcasting

Trade Union Professionals

Civic Society Organization

Civil Society ?

 

Figure 3.1 A Taiwan model of Three-pillar Situating Media, 2008-2010

Source: arranged by authors

 

3.2 Revitalizing the PSB Model in Correction of pro-Market Force

 

A turmoil of PTS Governance was started from August, 2009 when the 3^rd   run-appointment of Governors joined the Board Meeting, including one Employee Director on behalf of Trade Union. After the several runs of arguments, questioning, protest, boycott within the board meeting of governance, the many of President’s mission-projects were denied, rejected and frozen. Those critical issues are as follows,

 

1. the overhaul of PTS Headquarter Building
2. the closed down of Public Television Group Project in joint news operation
3. the PTS promotion and advertising for Microsoft Office 2010 products
4. the renovation of facilities for news operation its disbursement without permission
5. the rent of PTS studio to the Democratic Progressive Party running campaign without permission

 

Moreover, the first run-appointed 4^th Governors, who sided with President being criticized by Trade Union, also were disclosed the issues unaccountable to public enquiry as follows,

 

1. two Governors shot documentary film projects commissioned by President of PTS while there is enormously conflict to their mandate without any disclosure

 

2. their appointment of PTS President run by the Board below the minimum seat requirement for functioning legally

 

3. the First Chairman of 4^th Governing Board sued the other 9 Governors without the consultation to the Board and filed an injunction to Civil Court paid by PTS

 

4. Leaked confidential information of Board to dissent News staff (host of forum program) using as a political move, without being subjected to investigation

 

5. the first run-appointed Governors run the below minimum attendee Meeting to govern PTS finally barred by the injunction issued from Civil Court and the State

 

6. After the directorship is suspended, the Chairman received the support from Humanistic Education Foundation by delivering a protest letter to each employee through the Supervisor Director Office in PTS

 

Those issues incurred rapidly the fights within PTS governing and management boards, trade union, and the dissident News staffs. It raised a question in public for an unacceptable image of public service broadcasters. From January to September, 2010, with an injunction order by court and an endorsement by state, a legal Governing Board was re-established. The first-President of 4^th Governing Board was sacked by new Board for her incompetent leadership and management fallacy accused by Trade Union in September. Since then, the PTS governance is returned to normal operation but the new confrontation was formed by several social movement groups with the support from dissent News staffs continuously. Above all, a new structure of pillar situating media is gained its momentous in modeling a professional stronghold state broadcasting in contest with social movement organization allied with dissent public media workers as figure 3.2,

 

State

Market

Public Broadcasting

Trade Union Professionals

Civic Society Organization

Civil Society ? Spilt

Dissident

Figure 3.2 The Three-Pillar Media Structure after Reform, 2010 till Now

 

Source: arranged by authors

 

The expelled-President called for her supporters united to fight-back. The Press Conference right after her removal was broadcast live (on-line) by PTS News Network (PNN) operated by one dissent news staff with her disbursement before. The supporting social groups arranged many opportunities to voice out about her appeal. Two pivotal her interviews are done by members of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and also the practitioners of social movement organization. One of her supporters is the regular member of Parliamentary Selective Committee for PTS Governor.

 

Before the removal of President Feng, she endorsed the PTS promotion deal for Microsoft Office2010 product without permission of Board. The deal allowed Microsoft to have a free ride to carry official brand, name and logo of PTS in sales. This was the crumbling case of her leadership and highly criticized by Trade Union. Coincidentally, she also allowed DPP rented a studio for its campaign and exchange Party contribution. Those two cases are outrageous to the professionals’ ethics with which PTS ten-year long complied. The original distrust with State directed the supporters of social movement one step forward to dating around capital force. 

 

Next, the following two cases would be elaborated and revealed that interim confrontation before 5^th Board established among professional operators (PTS), state and social movement organizations in forming a future public service media of Taiwan.

 

3.3. The first case: The endless disputes of PTS board member selection and

    decision

 

PTS is defined as an independent public broadcasting institution owned by the citizens (Article 11, PTS Act). Therefore, it requires a high degree of non-partisanship to get board members elected which is a challenge in Taiwan's highly charged political ecology.

 

Several attempts have been made to form a new board since December 2010 when 4^th Board is terminated but the process has been delayed because of disputes over candidates’ background and their political affiliate. According to the Public Television Act, PTS' directors should be nominated by the cabinet and approved by 75 percent of the members of a 15-person-Selective Commission. The Commission is selected by the various political parties in Parliament in proportion to the number of legislative seats each party holds. Conclusively, the minority is easily leveraged on the high demand of eligible votes to be a Governor.  

 

During selection period, the ruling and the opposition party were failed to have a consensus in the making of 5^th PTS Board for five runs. Actually, two members of Selective Committee recommended by DPP are one who being closed allied in supporting President Feng fought with PTS for her dismissal and the other who served as current Supervising Director of PTS introduced single social movement organization to protest for First-Chairman’s injunction. Those people with conflict-interest to be impartial person in selecting successive Governors went out of control without sanction (Cheng, 2013).

 

Moreover, those members articulated with the request of SMOs in media reform, including the ‘Campaign for Media Reform’ and ‘Taiwan Media Watch’, for established new board timely but repeatedly vetoed the nomination of Nationalist Government without cause. The selection review was distorted and fooled by a small circle people for a retaliation from the previous failed leadership in PTS.

 

To finalize the scandal of Selective Governors Committee, government nominated all elite representatives but Employee Director in successful reaching the eligible seats of statutory Governor Board in July 2013. However, six-month later for President election, those same circle was united again to fight. Before election, they (Renew Taiwan Culture Organizations, RTWC) endorsed the sacked-President Feng run for the post again. After the selection failed, they criticized the new President-elected by providing corruption list of hers. The same circle even reinforced the credibility of proof by citing the evidence is proved by employees. The Trade Union of PTS frankly questioned the SMO’s claim of employee-testimony due to no allegation of them been filed for. SMO (Civil Society Monitoring Group on the Appointment of PTS President) confessed the so-called the employee are only two-News dissent staffs. Finally, PTS official replied with proof to clarify the corruption charge and won the silence of small circle.

 

3.4. The second case: Sustain the operating of PTS and discontent

 

PTS has been suffered from the cap of budget for a long time. Since 1997 when limits were set on annual government appropriation for PTS, it received 26 million USD without fine tuning in response to inflation. However, PTS successfully cooperated with government to conduct several digital TV projects. Through this cooperation, form 2003 to 2013, PTS gained the extra funding to overhaul its production system (around: USD 140M) and launch its owned HD channel. Based on this infrastructure, a revised version of PTS Act is legalizing from 2011. However, the social movement organizations of media reform are distanced themselves from this endeavour in the very beginning. The more details of those events will be elaborated in next comparison of four countries.

 

 

4. Analyzing the Regional Cases of Public Service Media Transformation

 

The literature of normative theories of the media presented four normative roles of media including: (1) Monitorial Role; (2) Facilitative Role; (3) Radical Role; (4) Collaborative role (Christians et al., 2009). Based on their theoretical framework, this chapter will map the public service media transformation in Hong Kong, South Korea and Thailand in comparison with the one in Taiwan. It will argue that a new formation of public service media is redrawing the shape of the supporters for public-interest based mass media entangled with new representative of public endorsed with other independent and social-activism based actors.

 

 

 

 

Institution Power

People’s Power

Media Dependency

Media Autonomy

Monitorial

Radical

Collaborative

Facilitative

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 4.1 Nordenstreng ‘s four Normative Roles of Media (2009)

 

4.1 Hong Kong

 

The free to air broadcasting service in Hong Kong currently are dominated by two commercial broadcasters including Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB) and Asia Television Limited (ATV). Two broadcasters were accused of monopolizing the local television market. Some of civil groups believed that two local broadcasters abusing their advantages including TVB forbidding artists to take part in other TV stations or ATV can not play the original voice of the artists contracted with TVB in drama episode. Conclusively, the dominances of two local broadcasters lead the market failure and low content quality (Community Development Initiative, 2010).

 

In order to resist the dominance, a local civil group, named Community Development Initiative (CDI), appeals that Government should maintain a fair environment for competition. One of the solutions advocated by CDI is implementing digital broadcasting technology to increase the number of channels and enhance the public media development.

 

4.1.1 The plan of subsidizing RTHK   

In 2009, Hong Kong government announced a comprehensive package for next few years to fully support the development of Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) as a public service broadcaster. According to the White Paper released from Legislative Council Panel on Information Technology and Broadcasting in 2013, RTHK has been tasked to take up the mission to serve as a public service media for citizens. Appropriate resources will be provided to allow RTHK to do so effectively (Legislative Council Panel on Information Technology and Broadcasting, 2013).

 

To be able to realize the mission, RTHK embarked on various new development plans, including the launch of digital audio broadcasting (DAB), digital terrestrial television (DTT) broadcasting service, facilitating community involvement system and constructing RTHK’s Media Asset Management system (MAM) and new RTHK headquarter named Broadcasting House.

 

Table 4.1 The Digital Action Plans of RTHK

Plans	Actions
Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB)	1. The government allocated RTHK frequency spectrum to launch 5 DAB channels. 2. RTHK conducted trial tests and public campaigns to promote public awareness of DAB. 3. RTHK launched five DAB channels in 2012, including:   (1) DAB-31: general programming, news and finance(Putonghua)  (2) DAB-32: China National Radio Hong Kong edition relay (Putonghua)  (3) DAB-33: general programming, news (English)  (4) DAB-34: BBC World Service relay (English)  (5) DAB-35: elderly, culture and education (Cantonese)
DTT	1. The government allocated RTHK frequency spectrum to launch 3 DTT channels, including:   (1) RTHK 31: news and general programs.   (2) RTHK 32: Live feed programs of Legislative Council meeting every Wednesday, other important meetings and press conferences.   (3) RTHK 33: Documentary Channel (Relay of CCTV Ch 9) 2. In 2012, RTHK has conducted the technical test for one high definition and two standard definition television channels through her own transmission site. 3. After the trial, RTHK kept enlarging her DTT coverage through building new transmission sites. 4. The government promised to allocate RTHK new resource from the financial year 2013-2014. The total amount of additional recurrent provision proposed by RTHK will be around USD 85.5 million.
MAM	1. The Government has been subsidized RTHK to build on a Media Asset Management project from 2011-2012 to restore archive material at risk, digitalize the most valuable portion (around 25%) of RTHK footages. 2. By the end of 2013, it is expected that about 7,800 hours of audio and all photos negatives from RTHK’s arrive were be digitalized. 3. RTHK launched the project of ‘RTHK Memory[1]’ in November 2012. Around 100 hours of footages from RTHK were released to public viewing.
The new RTHK headquarter	1. One of plans is building a new RTHK headquarter named Broadcasting House. 2. Upon completion of the tendering procedure, RTHK will seek funding for the project through established mechanism, which is expected to be around the last quarter of 2013.

Source: Legislative Council Panel on Information Technology and Broadcasting (2013)

 

In fact, a civil group named Momentum 107 believed that the funding of new RTHK headquarter was wasteful and unnecessary (Momentum 107, 2013). Finally, the proposal was rejected by the Legislative Council's Public Works Subcommittee in January, 2014 due to the high cost[2]. One of councilors criticized that RTHK had expanded its service too widely and reduced the construction fees is necessary (Ip, 2014). In February, the government said it won't resubmit the funding request of new RTHK headquarter to legislators because of the failed lobby with Legislative Council.

 

According to RTHK Programme Staff Union’s statement, the staff were disappointed that manager team did not fight for Government’s decision. Continually, RTHK Programme Staff Union urged the Government re-submitting the funding proposal to discuss what type of public service broadcasting the society needs. The Union also wished citizens understand that getting sufficient equipments is only to serve the public well and provide quality programs. (RTHK Programme Staff Union, 2014).

 

4.1.2 The disputes in RTHK from 2011 to 2014

Based on the relationship between Government and RTHK, Hong Kong Journalists Association revealed a report to demonstrate the challenges for freedom of expression in Hong Kong regarding to the intervention from China Government.

 

According to the press, the Hong Kong Government decided to appoint a veteran civil servant, Roy Tang, with no relevant broadcasting experience, as a new director of RTHK in September 2011 (Chua, 2011). It is the first time an administrative officer headed RTHK since it was separated from Information Service Department in 1950. The appointment was challenged by the RTHK Programme Staff Union, academics and pan-democratic congress people. Roy Tang was also specially greeted by members from RTHK Programme Staff Union on his first day. Members rolled out a black carpet, yelled slogans and waved placards saying "Free RTHK" and "Bureaucrat Out!" as he arrived at the station's Kowloon Tong headquarters.

 

The appointment was seen as the embodiment of China government’s intervention into media freedom and editorial independence (Hong Kong Journalists Association, 2012). Moreover, following controversial cases were continually happened in Hong Kong, including:

 

 

  (1) Two senior talk show hosts were replaced in RTHK

After Roy Tang’s appointment, two senior phone-in radio talk show hosts were sacked. The decision was challenged by RTHK Programme Staff Union since two hosts were considered to be in pan-democratic party. They also expressed deep worries of the replacement might weaken the diverse discussion feature of RTHK program. Roy Tang denied the decision was based on political will from China Government. He replied that RTHK will keep allowing phone-in programs to maintain the open discussion on current affairs.  

 

(2)  Roy Tang ‘harmonized’ the RTHK Producers’ Guidelines

In 2014, Roy Tang was accused of ‘harmonizing’ RTHK Producers’ Guidelines. Members are not satisfied that Tang deleted the wording of ‘promoting freedom of expression and a democratic society’ from the guideline. RTHK Producers’ Guidelines mentioned the role of RTHK, the system, media ethics, and how to deal with complaints from audience. It was last revised by RTHK manager group and the staff in 2007. The official said that the modification will lead RTHK to much more fit for its role of public service media. RTHK Programme Staff Union resisted Tang’s decision. The Union believed that ‘promoting’ freedom of expression and democratic society’ is the major function of public service media. In May 2014, when Roy Tang attend a ceremony hosted by RTHK, some of the staff and guests wore blue ribbons distributed by the RTHK Programme Staff Union to show their concerns, including the Deputy Chief of Broadcasting (Ng, 2014).

 

On the other hand, Hong Kong Television Network Limited (HKTV) joined the raced for free to air TV license. However, it was rejected by Government in 2013. As the result, nearly 400,000 people signed a Facebook petition demanded that the government give a full statement for denying HKTV’s application.

 

Finally, around 120,000 citizens protested against the government’s decision to deny a television license to HKTV on 20th October 2013(Lin, 2013). Hong Kong Government was accuse of favoring the exist operators to secure their market dominance. Moreover, SMOs believed that the result is China Government intended to control the freedom of speech in Hong Kong.

 

Those cases reveal a complexity among government, labor union and SMOs. As the figure 4.2 showed, RTHK followed the institution system and function as a collaborative role. She gained the funding from government and launched the new services to publics. However, SMOs rarely echoed the triumph of RTHK. SMOs would much more expect and support the new commercial operators. On the other hand, RTHK Programme Staff Union is preventing the interventions from China government through reviewing RTHK’s daily operations and the media policy making process from government stringently.

 

 

Institution Power

People’s Power

Media Dependency

Media Autonomy

Monitorial

Radical

Collaborative

Facilitative

RTHK

RTHK Programme Staff Union

SMOs

HKTV

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 4.2 Mapping the Relationships between PSM and SMOs in Hong Kong

Source: complied by authors

 

4.2 South Korea

From 1970 to 1990, South Korean Government modernized and industrialized its country to access a great economic growth. However, it also became autocratic with the growth of its national economy and control of mass media. Eventually, it led the Korea’s democracy social movement in coming year.

 

4.2.1 The relationship between PSM and the state

There are two public service media in South Korea including Korean Broadcasting System (KBS) and Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation (MBC). Both of them were the results of the media merge initiated by military regime in 1980. In term of KBS, it is a public corporation but the members of the board and the CEO are all appointed by the President. Although South Korea Government de-regulated and allowed commercial broadcasters (such as Seoul Broadcasting System launched in 1991) join the market in 1990, Government limitedly opens the media market to keep KBS’ significant market power. To enhance the terrestrial television development continually, Government also reserved the spectrum to help KBS start two phases of 4K Ultra High Definition Television (4K UHDTV) trail from 2012 to 2013. This gave broadcasters an opportunity to evaluate the possibility of early stage of UHDTV service and set up the next milestone of digital terrestrial TV service (Hahm, 2014).

 

However, the political control of KBS was heavily exerted before the emergence of South Korean civil society in 1990. The growing influences from civil groups allowed people participating in media policy-making process openly (Kwak, 2012).          

 

4.2.2 The resistance of KBS Labor Union

Reviewing the social movements in South Koran, students, labors, Christens, and journalists were the important actors that participating democratic movements. In terms of journalists, they are allowed to gather information associated with political protest and also attempt to spread them to the entire society. Moreover, the news firms affiliated with International Press Institute (IPI) also help journalist became a strong actors referred to the media freedom movement in South Korea (Shin, Chang, Lee and Kim, 2007).

 

In 2009, President Lee Myung-Bak appointed Kim In-kyu as a new KBS President. Part of the members from KBS union believed the appointment is controversial since Kim was Lee’s media policy advisor during presidential election. They claimed that KBS will be criticized by the citizens for approving a person who served closely with current president. Part of members from labor union who against Kim would propose a strike were rejected by KBS Union (The Hankyoreh, 2009). At result, those members established a new labor union named KBS TV Union. Overall, two labor unions were co-existed within KBS including KBS union and KBS TV union.

 

In late 2009, around 4,000 media workers launched a strike due to Government amended the law might restrict the media freedom (Kang, 2009). The new law would allow newspaper companies and enterprises to merge 20 percent stocks from terrestrial broadcasters and up to 49 percent of a news channel. Since KBS Union didn’t join the strike, KBS TV Union announced to support the strike and urge KBS Union participate the movement (Kwak，2012).

 

Another media strike issued by KBS TV Union was launched in 2012. Former President (Lee Myung-Bak) was accused of interfering KBS appointment again. KBS TV Union argued that it would endanger the impartial environment for news coverage in KBS (ibid).

 

In 2013, KBS Union also launched a strike to ask KBS management team establish a framework regarding to improve the governance structure of public service broadcasting and raise minimum wage for employees (Ramstad, 2012). But KBS TV Union did not join the strike. Members joined the strike of KBS TV Union usually were sued by KBS manager team. By contrast, manager team did not take any legal action to the members join the strike issued by KBS Union. KBS TV Union claimed that manager team was in favor of KBS Union (Yang, 2013). 

 

In 2014, KBS proposed the plan to the Korea Communications Commission, the media regulators, where it will increase its license fee to enhance reliability of broadcasting. It will re-adjust the monthly license fee from the current 2,500 won (USD 2.35) to 4,000 won (USD 4.6) since the license fee has been frozen from 1981. Furthermore, KBS will reduce the annual commercial revenue to fulfill the role and the function of public service media (Shing, 2014). Finally, KCC agreed with the hike and required KBS to halt advertising before 2019.

 

However, civil groups (such as Citizens’ Coalition for Democratic Media) and opposition party (The Democratic Party) were against this proposal. They claimed that people can not pay extra fee because KBS has been failed to play the role of a public broadcaster. KBS TV union made a statement that government tries to maintain stronger control over public media through approving the license fee hike (Baek, 2014).    

 

Above all, KBS earned the political resource through acting as a collaborative role but triggered the concerns from KBS TV Union. As figure 4.3 showed, KBS TV Union is the major actor in the social movement associate with PSM issues in South Korea. It affiliated with the SMOs and the opposition party to boycott the potential development of KBS.

 

In the end, we can also sense the distance between KBS Union and KBS TV Union regarding to their positions. Series of similar strikes issued by KBS Union or KBS TV Union were continually launched from 2010 to 2014. Those movements would be seen as a reflection of different standpoints led the divide between two unions.

 

 

 

Institution Power

People’s Power

Media Dependency

Media Autonomy

Monitorial

Radical

Collaborative

Facilitative

KBS

KBS Union

KBS TV Union

SMOs

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 4.3 Mapping the Relationships between PSM and SMOs in South Korea

Source: complied by authors

 

4.3 Thailand

 

According to the recent history of public media system in Thailand, PSB was born by a coup of 2007 and transformed the ITV Public Company Limited (ITV) into a new public service media (Rodloytuk, 2011).

 

4.3.1 Thai-government initiated digital master plan with PSB

In 2012, National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC), the communication regulator, announced its nationwide digital master plan called ‘The First Broadcasting Master Plan (2012-2016). Under the plan, it scheduled to release the new digital terrestrial television licenses and the timetable for digital switchover of terrestrial television (NBTC, 2012).

According to NBTC, the plan aimed to reform the television-industry landscape. Since the audiovisual operating costs went down significantly, NBTC believed that the release of large number of new TV channels will enlarge the market needs and benefit the local content providers. In addition, NBTC endorsed a digital TV subsidy coupon for the citizens to purchase set top boxes in order to promote digital transmission of terrestrial television (Thai PBS, 2014).

 

Parts of spectrum are also reserved for state-owned and public broadcasters. Those were including Thai PBS, TV5 which is run by Army, National Broadcasting Services of Thailand (NBT/Ch11), and MCOT (Ch9) run by the Ministry of Finance. Meanwhile, NBTC also allowed incumbent terrestrial broadcasters such as NBT, MOCT and Thai Pubic Broadcasting Service (Thai PBS), to conduct their digital TV trial test (DVB, 2014).

 

As one of the state-owned public service media, MCOT would make a great effort to follow the digital TV plan from NBTC. According to the press, MCOT plans to manage two variety HD channels, two news channels, one Children & Family channel, and broadcasting the FIFA World Cup Brazil 2014 to encourage the digital transition. In addition, MCOT launched the DVB-T2 (the next generation transmission system of terrestrial TV) trial test to help NBTC decide national broadcasting service standard (DVB, 2011).

 

However, MCOT State Enterprise Union (the labor union) questioned NBTC’s digital plan since NBTC forcefully asked public service TV broadcasters join the bidding of digital TV license. In this regard, the members of labor union wear black to against the policy from NBTC (Bangkok Post, 2013).

 

Furthermore, MCOT State Enterprise Union also opposed NBTC granted the spectrum to selected existing broadcasters. It suggested that the opportunities to potential industries operators through a system of transparent and non-discriminatory evaluation should be implemented not by bidding only (MCOT State Enterprise Union, 2013).

 

4.3.2 The rise of Thai Pubic Broadcasting Service

ITV originally is a private broadcaster operating its business through free to air in 1995. In 1997, ITV chose to accept the investment from Shin Corporation which is invested by Thaksin Shinawatra Family[3] since the financial tsunami effect harmed its operation. Thus Thaksin Shinawatra Family became the major shareholder of ITV.

 

Under Shin Corporation, ITV operated a concession from the government including increase the percentage of entertainment programs and reduce its license fee in 2004. In 2006, Thaksin Shinawatra government was overthrow by the Military. It is so called 2007 Thai coup. Surayud Chulanont replaced Thaksin Shinawatra as the Prime Minster. At the same time, the Administrative Court ruled that ITV's move to modify its programming was against the Communication Law.  Since ITV had to pay back the reduced TV license fee, it were not able to handle the payment (about to 1 billion Baht) then be taken over by state.

 

The government renamed ITV as Thailand Independent Television (TITV). However, Surayud Chulanont, the Prime minister, attempted to transform TITV from private broadcaster to public service media because this coup-debated government was asked to response the appeal from civil society. Before the PSM issue became debated in 2007, there had been a social movement to push government building the PBS by several civil groups.

 

Since PSM issue became mature in 2007, these groups, such as policy advocators and scholars, actively participated in proposing to establish PSM legal framework through pubic forums or symposiums (Siroros and Ungsuchaval, 2012). According to Siroros and Ungsuchaval, the social movement groups advocated the PSB law should lead to modify Thai society in direction of ‘open’ and ‘neutral’.

 

Finally, Surayud Chulanont amended Public Broadcasting Service Act to keep it free from political will and commercial pressure. Thai PBS formally funded in January 2008. Thai PBS sets up the Department of Public Media Development, the divisions include Civil Media Network Development, Social Capital Development, Public Participants and Feedbacks Development, and Academic Institute of Public Media[4]. In this regard, one of distinctive features in Thai PBS is the emphasis on public participation in its content type to its strategic direction (Murray, 2013).

 

 

 

 

 

4.3.3 Thai PBS wins the supports from SMOs

 

Between November 2013 and May 2014, anti-government group called People's Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) started the social movement to force Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra step down. PDRC protesters seized major state-owned broadcasters, including NBT and MCOT to ask for a cooperation of stopping broadcast the news in favor of government (Laotharanarit, 2014). However, Thai Broadcast Journalists Association condemned PRDC’s action was harmful the news independence.

 

Siroros and Ungsuchaval (2012) pointed out that three reasons successfully lead the rise of Thai PBS, including:  

 

  (1) Overlapping sectors of civil society: the collaboration of different civil groups was a major factor the push the PSB policy in Thailand.

 

  (2) Favorable political context: the members in Surayud Chulanont’s cabinet were friendly to NGO groups. Some of the NGO groups were available to affect the policy making process.

 

  (3) Policy learning and knowledge: the policy making of Thai PBS was influenced partially by policy learning from oversea countries whose PSB systems had been established in advance. 

 

There is no labor union established in Thai PBS. As an establishment that negotiated by civil society and the Government, the close relationship between SMOs and Thai PBS is feasible. According to the PRDC statement, the reports from Thai PBS were in line with the civil groups’ interests (Reporter without borders, 2014). As the figure 4.4 showed, the close relationship between SMOs and Thai PBS is significant. Those traditional public service media funded by state, such as NBT or MCOT, would be much more in line with the institutional system.

 

 

Institution Power

People’s Power

Media Dependency

Media Autonomy

Collaborative

Monitorial

Radical

Facilitative

Thai PBS

SMOs

NBT, MCOT

MCOT State Enterprise Union

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 4.4 Mapping the Relationships between PSM and SMOs in Thailand

Source: complied by authors

 

 

 

 

 

 

4.4 The cooperation between government and PTS in Taiwan

 

According to Cheng and Lee (2012), different kinds of special projects were commissioned by Government subsidy to PTS since 2003. Taiwan public broadcasting is continually financed by extra funds for TV digitalization to supplement its ‘funding cap’ on government appropriation manipulated by political parties’ controlling strategies in postponed legislation renewal.

 

Those projects came from different national development plans proposed by the Executive Yuan and passed through the Legislative Yuan including: ‘Challenge 2008 Six-Year National Development Plan’, ‘The New Ten Projects’, and Plan of promoting High Definition Television. Each of national plans contained different sub-projects as follows.

 

 

 

 

Table 4.2 The Government Grants to Digitization from 2003 to 2014

Year	Major Project	Subprojects	Budget (USD)
2003-2009 (2008 was excluded)	Challenge 2008 Six-Year National Development Plan	The Project of Constructing Common Transmission Platform  (including DTT network, MHP testing, mobile TV system)	40 million
2006	The New Ten Projects	The Project of Public Broadcasting, Cultural Creation and Digital Television Development	83 million
2011	The Plan of Inception Year for Developing HDTV	The Project of Building HDTV Network in Eastern Taiwan	1.5 million
2011		The Project of Upgrading 21 Gap Fillers from SD to HD System	2.5 million
2012		The Project of Producing HDTV Programs	6 million
2013		The Project of Producing HDTV Programs	9.33 million
2014		The Project of Producing HDTV Programs	4.33 million
Total		146.66 million

  Source: authors

 

Generally speaking, most of the nation plans were almost focused on the hardware implementation. PTS still suffered from the shortage of program production budget. Regarding to PTS’ funding issue, Ministry of Culture decided to finance PTS for HD programs making. However, the amount of budget is not stable.

 

In December, 2013, Ministry of Culture, the regulatory body of the PTS Foundation, officially announced her public service media policy. Two major actions are proposed including:

 

 (1) Amend the Public Television Act: Enlarge the funding of PTS from USD 30 million to USD 60 million.

 

 (2) Keep subsiding PTS’ HD channel to advance the audiovisual market in Taiwan.   

Although the new Public Television Act has to be approved by the Parliament, it is a significant milestone of enhancing PTS development. On the contrary, those projects above started from its very beginning (2006) were paid scanty attention by SMOs for media reform. Even they questioned the emergency of national grant disbursement and the political interference came along with. The leading organizations, Campaign for Media Reform and Taiwan Media Watch Education Foundation, continuously requested the government should increase the national appropriation through collecting fees from each TV household in preventing public service media from political intervention. Lacking of political will and public support, the PTS Act is not revised until the March of 2011 by the support of new 4^th Governing Board, PTS Trade Union and Nationalist Government.

 

The SMOs in general, led by the Humanistic Education Foundation, co-opted with PTS from 2008 to 2010, in protesting against the Nationalist Government intervention. Some academic figures belonged to them even promoted the National Public Radio model or the related U.S. system by receiving the least Federal fund with large amount contributed by individual donation and enterprise underwritten. And they lest appreciated with any National Project of Digitization by spending most attention to relocate the PTS News Staffs from Group structure back to the camp they controlled.

 

Once the new 4^th Governing Board established in 2011, DPP acted on the behalf of SMOs to stop the legislation of PTS Act revise by rejecting any “Good Governance” legal clause. The dissent News staffs of PTS organized together attacked the governance of acting-President and criticized PTS employees lacking of moral in confrontation with Trade Union. They regularly disagreed with potential accountable regulation on their performance. To praise for “Sun-Flower” student occupied movement in March 2014, program staff even managed to rerun the situation-documentary of the movement’s leaders. The move of dissent workers is affiliating with radical movement and refuted the accountability to the general public.

 

 

 

Institution Power

People’s Power

Media Dependency

Media Autonomy

Collaborative

Monitorial

Radical

Facilitative

SMOs

PTS

The dissent News staffs of PTS

PTS Labor Union

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 4.5 Mapping the Relationships between PSM and SMOs in Taiwan

                 Source: complied by authors

 

5. Conclusion

 

This research started from the politicizing development of Taiwan Public Television Service in the last decade. On the surface, it was a local impact from political transformation of Great China Community on a media politics internally. However, when the one Taiwan local case compared with the three Asia neighboring countries, the topic gain its significance of revealing a transforming support for PSB regarding traditional pillar theory defined by Western liberal media model.

 

The PSB is universally defined as public owned- “State Broadcasters”. The public is intensively engaged and represented by social movement organizations. Under the pressure of internet competition and young audience diversion, the request for public supporting PSB is proposed by academic research (Jakubowicz,2007). Reasonable thinking, the three-pillar for media theory is thickening the base of civil society for upholding the strong democracy and media (Hamelink and Nordenstreng, 2007: 227). However, the research found that more than a signal case of Taiwan, there are total four ones to tell a different story (Jebril, Stetka and Loveless, 2013:7).

 

According to the previous comparison, the study of Taiwan, with South Korea, Hong Kong and Thailand, concluded into a systematic rethinking on the relation between civil society and public service media. If a new divide within the civil society of three-pillar media structure is sustainable, there is most likely to conduct a systematical review on the case of four countries as follows (see Table 5.1).

 

All four cases distinguish the civil society group from the professional-run trade union in operating the future of PSB. Those cases of PSB almost spilt the media-related civil society by struggling for the PSB governance between trade unions and SMOs. The research is pointing out the great significance of this generated either from politically, the internet activism or technically, savvy young audience yet decided. However, the fact is the crisis of political trust has happened in all countries recently. This phenomenon strengthened the article’s argument in emphasizing the collapse of trust between state and SMOs, and the repeat failure of general election forced SMOs strike out a resistance game endlessly.

 

In Taiwan, SMOs and academic coincidently reiterated PSB should kept distance from the ruling government politically and financially. The defensive and reactionary roles they took for almost eight-year now. The leading role of PSB policy formation is left over and pursued by PTS Enterprise Union in seeking Directorship and expanding membership. Nationalist Party Government only maintains its comparative leading role by proposing fund increase and undefined future plan. What is at stake of a strong Union (professionals)-influential PSB policy still needed to be highly discernable.

 

Table 5.1. The Comparison of Four Countries Media Structured by Sectors of Three-Pillar Model

Country	PSB (Media)	SMO/ Media (Civil Society)	Trade Union	New PSB Policy	Finance (State)	Political Combat	Capital (Market)
Taiwan	PTS	HEF RTWC Others/ PNN	PTSFEU	HD Broadcast New Media	HD Program Grant Fine-tuning mechanism of Appropriation	DPP, RTWC, Dissent- staffs	Microsoft U.S. Model
South Korea	KBS	NUMW/ KBS TV Union	KBS Union	4K UHD	License Fees hikes	Democratic Party Anti-Ruling Party Forces	Legislation of Consolidated TV channel
Hong Kong	RTHK	SMOs	RTHK Program Staff Union	DVB-T DAB MAM	Government Project	Director of Broadcasting Legislative Council, Momentum 107	HKTV
Thailand	MCOT NBT-11	Thai PBS	MCOTSEU	DVB-T2 HD	Government Subsidy Free Spectrum Reallocation	PRDC blocked and occupied	Non-Union Model

Public Television Service Foundation Enterprise Union (PTSFEU)

National Union of Media Workers (NUMW)

Source: complied by authors

 

Public service broadcaster in Taiwan maintains its forum and informative function of political communication. Once the political turbulence struck the core of mistrust, the SMOs aggressively establish their own media and drive major young citizen’s eye-ball in replacing PSB. For example, the recent “Sun-Flower Movement” against Mainland China is criticized PTS’ decision in maintaining the impartial role for hosting political forum and balancing its role-playing as advocacy on programming. Those previous values are firmly insisted by PTS Enterprise Union. The current Governing Board later confirmed their support to professionals by counter-arguing the dissent voices within PTS.

     

Nevertheless, a divided nature of public is an undeniable loss. Without the full support for current organization of PSB, a conservative future is foreseeable. Due to the tradition of ruling party, the grand project of Ministry of Culture should be compromised by the least-sized PSB policy originated from Nationalist Party. The SMO will draw a promising picture of citizen journalism, crowd funding and crowd sourcing for quality report regularly. On the long run, the strong trade union force will sustain the professionals-led perform in facing next handover of regime. A new networking stakeholders with trade union also tentatively illustrated in near future.

 

This united network is composed of the possible members as follows,

 

1. The Public Media Committee of Confederation of Taipei Trade Unions
2. Independent researchers in labour and communications issues
3. Media, Entertainment & Arts Sector, Union Network International
4. Association of Taiwan Journalists

 

However, lacking of PTS dissent journalists and the supporting SMOs in above network must “be challenged by growing cynicism and decline of public trust in journalism” (Jebril, Stetka and Loveless, 2013: 7). The current debate and planning of PSB policy in Taiwan is organized by Governing Board and its representative, Trade Union and professionals staff. One undergoing process without previous NGO for media reform or SMOs for resistance to Mainland China is quite alternative but facing another run of political contest from them. Taiwan PTS is, in a way, standing for a more institutionalized normative function and profession screening once the next movement to resist Communist China is expanded.

 

 

 

With the promising support from Ministry of Culture, Taiwan PTS is ready for a launch into a new universe and based on the status quo. Politically, the significance of new typed three-pillar model is positioning PSB in an upfront choice between the normalized Great China Community’s state-building and a radical politics to revolutionize the representative democracy for resistance to China.

 

Where the emerging issues in Taiwan is also happened to the rest of three countries in the research. The Korean case shared the similarity with the Taiwan in transforming SMOs into the ruling power. The highly politicized SMOs, after defeat by returning conservative party, mobilized an unconditional resistance internally. It brought the professional trade union confront with them. The divide or fight generated from the encounter drives a new route to structuring the pillars beneath the PSB. The dissent PSB professionals collaborated with SMOs extended the resistance into a long run strategy. The state represented by counterpart political parties should be competed regularly in Korea. However, the Taiwan state maintained the tie with Mainland China should created distrust unevenly within political parties in revolutionized uncertainty.

 

Comparing Taiwan with Hong Kong, the research found that both regions each created a non-exclusive divide between trade union and news or program staffs. Taiwan staffs are involved deeply with SMOs movement. Hong Kong ones are in sympathy with them for a democratic action. However, the SMOs both sides generally questioned the legitimacy of “regional state” including many political institutions even with PSB. To modernize PSB successively, PTS and RTHK confirmed a firm tie with state even a negative effect of China integration is impending.

 

Based on a particular democratic transition, Thailand is moved back and for around the forces of extreme politics and military coup. A strong nation capitalism structured the PSB into a diverse organizations. They are allowed SMOs to share the benefits of media democratization to participate into one PSB operation. A nationwide led-TV digitization is franchised to national TV enterprise without doubt during transition. Although the extreme political group demonstrated once mistrust toward PSB, the deterred democracy by parental military regime is counteracted against the enlarging divide between SMOs, PSB and state. Under this situation, the trade union of PSB kept learning govern the media internally and internationally with the firm support from the political economy base.

 

The changing boundary of PSB supporting lines is confirmed by four Asian cases. Taiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong and Thailand illustrated the ferment growing within state, civil society and PSB media. What an adventure of PSB policy beholds by four public media is greatly downplayed the significance of capital/market force recently occupied salience role in European Union. It meant the regional emerging democracy issue in Asia now highly politicized the development of PSB.            

 

 

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