Are mainstream political television chat shows deterring talented Taiwanese from getting involved with politics? UDN believes that is the case.
Taiwan News
Date: 2016/10/03
By: Mo Tz-pin
The treatment that Taiwan’s politicians receive on television is turning would-be civil servants away from
Photo Credit: 中天新聞截圖
public life, the Chinese-language United Daily News (UDN) says in an editorial.
Taiwan has more than 20 political talk shows, with hundreds of thousands of viewers tuning in every night. The shows are notorious for their harsh criticism of politicians and their well-known commentators frequently wading into the personal lives of public officials.
According to the UDN editorial published today, talented people are choosing to work in the private sector rather than as public officials who are treated “unequally and disrespectfully” on national television.
The editorial said there is a lack of diversity among the shows’ commentators, with the same group of commentators rotating between different shows, repeating the same message. Political pundits stereotype politicians, labeling, for example, senior politicians with “high” salaries as “fat cats.” [FULL STORY]
