Today was a long day. Officially, it was my day off, but I went and reported worked in production after my story was finished. I arrived at the office at 8h40 and home at 23h15. I attended a conference on freedom of press in Asia, where directors of journalist unions from South Korea, India, the Philippines and Hong Kong spoke about the conditions in their country. But because we try to stick to local news, I really didn't know what to do and how to write a story. In the end, I wound up asking the president of the International Federation of Journalists his views on having English-language local news in Taiwan. It just shows how insecure I am about the show possibly ending at Formosa TV, possibly for good, in September. I must have faith that things will turn out alright, whichever the case may be.My editor said I was beating my drum if I wanted to spin the story that way, so suggested that I write about press freedom in Taiwan, compared to the country of the other speakers. In the Philppines, 26 journalists were murdered in the last three years. In Hong Kong, reporters are limited by the communist government and powerful businesses, and as a result, their news is quite sterilized. Taiwan, in contrast, regularly appears the top of the list of press freedom in the region. With a president that would rather choose freedom of press over national security, people outside of Taiwan may be able to imagine how free journalists here are. In fact, perhaps too free. There are eight 24-hour news stations mostly taken over by a ratings war. Much of the airtime is filled with sanguine images, gossip and political figures vying for exposure. If you're interested in seeing the story, you can view it online here: http://englishnews.ftv.com.tw The story was aired 8 July.
Thank goodness for editors. I do feel sorry that they have to put up with reporters like me, though.
My vegetarian lunch and companion.
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