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For the full text of this licence, please go to: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/ Against the Grain: The Battle for Public Service Broadcasting in Taiwan ...................................................... by Chun-Wei Daniel Lin A Doctoral Thesis Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of Doctor of Philosophy of Loughborough University October 2012 © by Chun-Wei Daniel Lin 2012 Thesis Abstract Against the Grain: The Battle for Public Service Broadcasting in Taiwan by Chun-Wei Daniel Lin, Social Sciences, Loughborough University, the UK Email: [email protected] Over the last two decades public service broadcasting (PSB) around the world has faced increasing pressures from accelerating commercialisation and the fragmentation of the broadcasting landscape. This has led a number of media commentators in the system’s traditional heartlands to ask whether the idea has now outlived its usefulness. Against the grain of this international trend, Taiwan has moved in the opposite direction, democratising its state-owned television system and introducing a form of public broadcasting for the first time. Against the grain of growing enthusiasm for a privatised solution supporters presented PSB as a necessary counter to the perceived deficiencies of the existing system, in serving a society moving from authoritarian to competitive party rule. This study sets out to explore how the expansion of PSB in Taiwan has been socially defined and constructed, and by whom. The various constructions in play were mapped through in-depth interviews with a range of claim-makers involved in the process. A systematic content analysis of the mainstream Taiwanese press was then conducted to explore the ways contending positions and issues were presented in the II public domain and to identify the key voices given a public platform. This analysis demonstrated that the opinions and concerns of the general public were largely missing from a debate dominated by political and academic elites. Against the grain of their own claims to be representing the public key actors constructed public debate as a series of monologues, advancing their own sectional and paternalistic interpretations of the public interest. These findings point to the supremely ironic conclusion that a process ostensibly dedicated to reconstructing broadcasting as key element in a new, democratic, public sphere, excluded the public from active participation and relegated them to the role of spectators. Keywords: PSB (Public Service Broadcasting), Political Struggle, Mediated Debate, Taiwan, Content Analysis, In-depth Interview. III Acknowledgements First I would like to thank my external examiner, Professor Ralph Negrine of Sheffield University, and my internal examiner, Doctor James Stanyer, for the improvements they brought to this thesis via the Viva. With their expertise, their comments and suggestions definitely took this thesis to the next level. In the process of completing this thesis, I was incredibly lucky to be supervised under two brilliant mentors, Professor Graham Murdock and Professor David Deacon. I have learnt from the best. Deep bows to both of my supervisors who took a torturous task to refine this thesis from pulp to print. Professor Graham Murdock is a big inspiration for this study. This thesis was just a rough idea until he breathed life into it. Graham has pushed me to grow from a novice to the author of this thesis with his patience whilst allowing me the room to work in my own way. I cannot thank him enough for his incredible support. Professor David Deacon is a cheerful and critical coach who has guided me through this lonely and painful writing process. His warm tutorials with insightful and encouraging comments have made this thesis a pleasure to write. I thank him for guarding the little flame of hope for me to keep me in the faith that I can do it. This thesis couldn’t have been completed without my sponsors’ support. Special thanks to the Taiwan Ministry of Education, The Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation and the Public Television Service Foundation for their generous funding. The Department of Social Science has provided the support and equipment I need to produce my thesis. I have been aided for many years by Deirdre Lombard, our clerical officer for Postgraduate. I thank her for supporting me to overcome all pitfalls in the path. Also, in my daily work at Loughborough I have been blessed with a friendly and warm group of colleagues and friends. Thank you all for your theoretical arguments, academic inputs, social supports, and, of course, party fun. IV Sincere thanks to my interviewees, the key actors who involved in Taiwanese PSB debate and the others who preferred to remain anonymous within corporate walls. I thank them for generously sharing their opinion and experience which have broadened the view of this thesis. Last but not least, this thesis is dedicated to my family members who always encourage me and love me through it all. I could not possibly name everyone who has contributed significantly to my understanding of the subject. My apologies if I have inadvertently omitted anyone to whom acknowledgement is due. Without doubt in this thesis there will be errors, omissions and over-simplifications. I assume alone full responsibility for all the remaining shortcomings. I hope this end result does not let down my supervisors, sponsors, colleagues, friends and family who have supported me all along, as well as readers who are patient enough to explore this work. Chun Wei Daniel Lin V Contents THESIS ABSTRACT II ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS IV LIST OF TABLES X LIST OF FIGURES X LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS XI CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 SYSTEM FAILURE OF MEDIA REPRESENTATION 2 1.2 MEDIA REFORM IN A BLUE-GREEN POLITICAL DIVIDE 4 1.3 CONTROVERSIAL PSB DEBATE IN TAIWAN 6 1.4 A SEQUENCED OVERVIEW OF THESIS STRUCTURE 10 CHAPTER 2 PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTING: A CONTESTED CONCEPT 12 2.1 SIGNIFICANCE OF BRITISH MODEL IN TAIWAN’S PSB EXPANSION 13 2.1.1 A DOMINANT PSB IN MEDIA LANDSCAPE 14 2.1.2 PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND OF KEY PSB ADVOCATE 15 2.1.3 OTHER RELEVANT MODELS IN NEIGHBOURHOOD 15 2.2 THE MEDIA AS PUBLIC SPHERE 15 2.2.1 THE HABERMASIAN PUBLIC SPHERE AND THE MEDIA 16 2.2.2 THE PUBLIC SPHERE AND PSB 18 2.3 PSB AS A CONTESTED CONCEPT 21 2.3.1 DEFINITIONS OF PSB 21 2.4 FROM CONCEPTS TO PRACTICE 26 2.4.1 THE UNITED KINGDOM: THE BBC 27 2.4.2 THE UNITED STATES: PBS 30 2.4.3 OTHER PSB MODELS IN TAIWAN’S NEIGHBOURHOOD 32 2.4.3.1 Japan: NHK 33 VI 2.4.3.2 South Korea: KBS and MBC 34 2.5 THREATS AND OPPORTUNITIES FACING PSB 36 2.5.1 THE DECLINE AND FALL OF PSB 36 2.5.2 CHALLENGES FOR PSB INTRODUCTION INTO TRANSITIONAL COUNTRIES 38 2.6 SUMMARY 39 CHAPTER 3 TRANSITIONAL TAIWAN AND ITS BROADCASTING LANDSCAPE 41 3.1 NATIONAL PROFILE OF TAIWAN 41 3.2 EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL TENSIONS ON TAIWAN 43 3.3 BRIEF OVERVIEW OF TAIWAN’S HISTORY 44 3.3.1 ECONOMIC ASPECT 47 3.3.2 POLITICAL ASPECT 48 3.3.3 CULTURE AND SOCIAL ASPECT 49 3.4 THREE PHASE OF TELEVISION TRANSITIONS IN TAIWAN 52 3.4.1 TELEVISION WITHIN FRONTIERS: SCARCITY (1949-1987) 55 3.4.2 TELEVISION WITHOUT FRONTIERS: CHOICES (1988-1999) 57 3.4.3 TELEVISION BEYOND FRONTIERS: ABUNDANCE (1999- TO DATE) 63 3.5 THE POLITICS OF REPRESENTATION: SYSTEM FAILURES 68 CHAPTER 4 RESEARCH OBJECTS, RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND METHODOLOGY 71 4.1 CASE DESCRIPTION: TWO WAVES OF THE PSB DEMANDS 71 4.1.1 THE INCEPTION OF PTS (1980-1997) 75 4.1.2 CREATION AND DISILLUSION WITH PTS (1998-1999) 76 4.1.3 FORMULATION OF PLANS FOR PSB EXPANSION (2000-2006) 77 4.1.4 THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE NEW PSB SYSTEM (2006-TO DATE) 83 4.2 RESEARCH AIMS AND QUESTIONS 88 4.3 RESEARCH METHODS 93 CHAPTER 5 CONSTRUCTIONS OF PSB DEBATE: COMPETITIONS FOR CLAIM-MAKERS 95 5.1 IDENTIFYING KEY CLAIM-MAKERS 96 5.2 LEGISLATORS’ CONSTRUCTIONS 97 5.2.1 PSB IN THE BLUE-GREEN DIVIDE 98 5.2.2 PSB AS A GOVERNMENT MOUTHPIECE 99 5.2.3 PSB AS A POLITICAL PLOT 101 5.2.4 PSB AS A COMPROMISED RESULT 103 5.3 ACADEMICS’ CONSTRUCTIONS 107 5.3.1 PTS AS A FLAWED DESIGN 107 5.3.2 PSB AS AN ELITE CAMPAIGN 108 5.3.3 PSB AS A SOCIAL MOVEMENT 109 5.3.4 PSB AS A LONG-TERM AND BOTTOM-UP REFORM 110 5.4 PUBLIC BROADCASTERS’ CONSTRUCTIONS 112 5.4.1 A PSB WITH INTERNAL TENSIONS 113 5.4.2 A PSB WITH UNCLEAR POSITIONING 116 5.4.3 A PSB WITH INSUFFICIENT FUNDING 118 5.4.4 A PSB WITH POLITICAL INTERFERENCE 119 5.5 FEATURES OF THE CLAIM-COMPETITIONS 121 VII CHAPTER 6 RESULTS OF CLAIM-BATTLES: PRESS REPRESENTATION 124 6.1 ANALYTICAL METHOD OF THE CONTENT ANALYSIS 124 6.1.1 SAMPLING 125 6.1.2 METHOD OF SAMPLING 126 6.1.3 CONSTRUCTION OF THE CODING CATEGORIES 127 6.1.4 INTER-CODER RELIABILITY 127 6.2 FINDINGS: THE PATTERN OF PRESS COVERAGE 128 6.2.1 FIVE DISTINGUISHING PEAKS 128 6.2.2 LOCATION AND GENRE 137 6.2.3 NEWS SOURCES 140 6.2.3.1 Sources Cited in News Reports 140 6.2.3.2 The Absence of the Public 143 6.2.3.3 Significant Activist-Academics 143 6.2.4 MAIN TOPICS AND SUB-THEMES 145 6.3 SUMMARY 148 CHAPTER 7 MAINSTREAM NEWSPAPERS AS CLAIM MAKERS 150 7.1 POLITICAL BIASES OF NEWSPAPERS 151 7.1.1 NEWSPAPERS RESTRICTION 151 7.1.2 PATRON-CLIENT RELATIONSHIP 152 7.2 VALANCE OF EDITORIAL 154 7.2.1 THE MAIN CONCERN OF THE EDITORIALS