The Reconstruction And Enlightenment Of The Termination Of Prohibition Of The Press For The Media Ecology In Taiwan

The great change has taken place economically and politically in Taiwan from the middle of the 20th century: It has influenced the social and cultural identity of the public media indirectly. Thanks to the development of society and the multi-power among the people, the prohibition of the press was lifted in Jan. 1st, 1988. It caused the change not only in the media ecolOgy but in the whole society. Media exists in the "social environment and promotes the latter's development. After the termination of prohibition, a great change has taken place in the environment of the media-ecology. Exteriorly, the government has transformed its direct control to indirect; the new published newspapers soar in big cities, for they all want to find their positions in the domain. The financial tycoons covet the newspaper industry and make it the play of the rich gradually, and the programs has become commodity and its content has been swayed by the advertisers. After the termination of prohibition, the market share of Union Press and Chinese Times is till static in short term, but the fierce attacks from the government-supported Liberty Times and the reader-oriented Apple Daily have lunchedThe lawsuits about the slander of media increase gradually and attract the eyeballs of the public. In the newspaper market, the new newspapers keep emerging while the old ones leave the stage, Internally, the viewership rate has become the only pursuit of the media. Audience read less newspapers, instead, the soft news increase. The economic pressures of the media influence the trend of the opinions on public affairs. The retail of newspaper increases yearly, sharing out the publishing market equally with the subscribed clients. The content and other elements are changing for the taste of the audience. Besides, new problems also appears, such as the right of the media approach, the freedom of the inside news etc. They have been put on the agenda with the coming of the democratic society. The opening of the newspaper competition should be treated as one part of liberalization and demoralization of the whole society. However, the termination of prohibition doesn't mean that all of problems will be solved, although it makes a big step striding into the democracy and constitution. The remaining problems are: which people could enjoy the resources of the media? At present, the resources are only available to the powerful and the rich as well as some acknowledged experts. The silent majority can't be involved unless they become the victim of the natural and man-made calamities. Through the analysis of the media ecology pre and post and prohibition, the thesis tries to make clear the relationship between the liberalism of the media and the social responsibility, whether the mass is benefited when the news industry become marketalized and the interrelationship between media and democracy in given time. Although demoralizations and marketlization are not the best society code, it is by far the most acceptable one in different countries and under different historical backgrounds.