Journalism students call for passing of media bargaining law

Taipei, Aug. 7 (CNA) Students from four of Taiwan's top journalism schools on Thursday urged lawmakers to pass a proposed media bargaining act, including a journalism development fund.

The absence of such legislation has contributed to a deteriorating media environment that could undermine Taiwan's democracy, the students said at a press conference in Taipei.

The students are enrolled at National Taiwan University, National Chengchi University, National Taiwan Normal University, and Fu Jen Catholic University.

Citing the dominance of social media platforms and their algorithms, the students said that Taiwanese news outlets are increasingly being forced to sacrifice depth and quality in exchange for traffic and advertising revenue.

In addition to promoting clickbait headlines and shallow content, these conditions have made media outlets vulnerable to governments and large corporations, while weakening the industry's ability to serve as an independent Fourth Estate, said Cheng Hsin (程心) of National Chengchi University.

Kuo Ssu-hsien (郭思嫻) of Fu Jen Catholic University said a journalism development fund is necessary. Such a fund could be financed through taxes on digital advertising revenue from global platforms or through donations from businesses, government agencies and private entities.

The fund should be managed by an independent committee and used to support investigative reporting, while ensuring that media outlets of various sizes can operate sustainably, she said.

The students' call echoed a petition launched in mid-June by members of Taiwan's journalism and academic communities. That petition gathered over 1,500 signatures in just 10 days.

Around the same time, Minister of Digital Affairs Yennun Huang (黃彥男) said the ministry aims to present its own version of the draft by the end of 2025.

However, Legislator Lin Kuo-chen (林國成) of the Taiwan People's Party, who chairs the Legislature's Transportation Committee, urged the ministry to act more swiftly due to the urgency of the issue.

The committee will proceed with the drafts already submitted and seek majority consensus if the Ministry of Digital Affairs fails to submit a version soon, Lin warned, with the goal of finalizing a bill for review by the end of the year.

The current session, which has been extended twice, will conclude on Aug. 31.

Lawmakers failed to reach a consensus when the Transportation Committee and the Education and Culture Committee held a joint meeting to review the draft on Wednesday.

A cross-party negotiation will be held for the draft.