Clipping Board » Illness Enters through Mouth ─ The information that has been made public is often just the tip of the iceberg...
2014-10-12 Liberty Times
The Tingshien Group's food safety scandals continue to erupt. Recently, concerns were raised by scholars about the potential impact on media independence and freedom of speech when conglomerates acquire cable TV systems, following Tingshien's bid for China Network Systems. Now, the "Da Ai News Reform Self-Help Association" has exposed on Facebook that Da Ai News completely omitted coverage of the ongoing food safety scandal. They questioned whether this was due to Tingshien being a major donor to Tzu Chi and alleged that in June, reporters were instructed by higher-ups to produce "whitewashing" news pieces for the Wei family of Tingshien in Changhua.
Wei Ying-chung, who recently resigned as chairman of Tingshien, is a Tzu Chi disciple. He not only serves as the convener of Tzu Chi's Humanitarian Food Aid Group but also often identifies himself as a "Tzu Chi member," even claiming to transform his business through Tzu Chi's values.
From last year to now, Tingshien Group's oil products have been implicated in scandals three times. In November 2013, Tingshien was found using oil adulterated with copper chlorophyllin. Just before this year's Mid-Autumn Festival, Wei Chuan products were discovered to contain gutter oil. This time, the issue involves the mixing of feed-grade oil into edible oil.
The "Da Ai News Reform Self-Help Association," which claims to consist of members from Da Ai Television's news department, posted on October 2 about how Da Ai reporters were assigned by their superiors to produce "whitewashing" news for the Wei family in Changhua. The reports highlighted their "restoration of historic houses," "donating land to Tzu Chi," and "benefiting the local community." In stark contrast, Da Ai News has remained silent on Tingshien's current food safety scandal, prompting criticism: "When the Wei family is a major donor to Tzu Chi, and when the Wei brothers are beloved disciples of Master Cheng Yen, the public's right to know is treated as worthless."
After the association shared the news links, they discovered on October 9 that the links had been taken down, allegedly by Da Ai executives to avoid covering Tingshien's food safety scandal.
Professor Kuan Chung-hsiang from the Department of Communications and Graduate Institute of Telecommunications at National Chung Cheng University commented that "virtuous" news is not necessarily "good" news. Good journalism should expose wrongdoing, challenge power, and not shy away from controversy by only highlighting the positive. Otherwise, it loses the essence of what news should be.
Source: http://news. ltn. com. tw/ news/ life/ breakingnews/ 1129122
Good News ≠ Quality News: Da Ai News Skips Ting Hsin Coverage
The Tingshien Group's food safety scandals continue to erupt. Recently, concerns were raised by scholars about the potential impact on media independence and freedom of speech when conglomerates acquire cable TV systems, following Tingshien's bid for China Network Systems. Now, the "Da Ai News Reform Self-Help Association" has exposed on Facebook that Da Ai News completely omitted coverage of the ongoing food safety scandal. They questioned whether this was due to Tingshien being a major donor to Tzu Chi and alleged that in June, reporters were instructed by higher-ups to produce "whitewashing" news pieces for the Wei family of Tingshien in Changhua.
Wei Ying-chung, who recently resigned as chairman of Tingshien, is a Tzu Chi disciple. He not only serves as the convener of Tzu Chi's Humanitarian Food Aid Group but also often identifies himself as a "Tzu Chi member," even claiming to transform his business through Tzu Chi's values.
From last year to now, Tingshien Group's oil products have been implicated in scandals three times. In November 2013, Tingshien was found using oil adulterated with copper chlorophyllin. Just before this year's Mid-Autumn Festival, Wei Chuan products were discovered to contain gutter oil. This time, the issue involves the mixing of feed-grade oil into edible oil.
The "Da Ai News Reform Self-Help Association," which claims to consist of members from Da Ai Television's news department, posted on October 2 about how Da Ai reporters were assigned by their superiors to produce "whitewashing" news for the Wei family in Changhua. The reports highlighted their "restoration of historic houses," "donating land to Tzu Chi," and "benefiting the local community." In stark contrast, Da Ai News has remained silent on Tingshien's current food safety scandal, prompting criticism: "When the Wei family is a major donor to Tzu Chi, and when the Wei brothers are beloved disciples of Master Cheng Yen, the public's right to know is treated as worthless."
After the association shared the news links, they discovered on October 9 that the links had been taken down, allegedly by Da Ai executives to avoid covering Tingshien's food safety scandal.
Professor Kuan Chung-hsiang from the Department of Communications and Graduate Institute of Telecommunications at National Chung Cheng University commented that "virtuous" news is not necessarily "good" news. Good journalism should expose wrongdoing, challenge power, and not shy away from controversy by only highlighting the positive. Otherwise, it loses the essence of what news should be.
Source: http://news. ltn. com. tw/ news/ life/ breakingnews/ 1129122