Taipei Times
Date: Apr 06, 2016
By: Shelley Shan / Staff reporter

A survey by Taiwan Media Watch found that close to 97 percent of the respondents said that the news media coverage of the killing of a four-year-old girl in Taipei’s Neihu District (內湖) on Monday last week caused widespread panic in society.

The non-profit foundation said it launched a four-day survey on Wednesday last week to evaluate how the television news coverage of the random killing was perceived by the public.

Nearly 1,400 questionnaires were gathered, with 70 percent of respondents saying they read or watch the news every day. The main sources of the news were social networks (48.8 percent), news media Web sites (28.5 percent) and television (20.7 percent).

According to the foundation, the most significant finding was that 96.9 percent said the coverage of the murder had caused panic in society, while 91.1 percent said that the coverage would harm the mental health of children.

Meanwhile, 92 percent said the “excessive” media coverage of the killing would encourage copycats to do the same thing, the foundation said, adding that some of the respondents said they believed that two similar incidents happened immediately afterward as a result of the non-stop coverage.     [FULL  STORY]