Taiwan’s CCTV misreported China’s war on Taiwan, reaction and follow-up – BBC News 中文

3 hours ago

On the morning of April 20, the news station of Taiwan’s China Television Corporation suddenly appeared at the bottom of the screen with a number of subtitles such as “New Taipei City was hit by a missile of the Communist Army”, which immediately sparked heated discussions from all walks of life in Taiwan.

When China Television News broadcasted the morning news at 7 o’clock, the subtitles of the “Marquee” at the bottom of the screen appeared “New Taipei City was hit by a CCP missile, the ships in Taipei Port exploded, and facilities and ships were damaged”, “The CCP is frequently preparing for war.” , the President issued an emergency order, effective from 8:00 on March 6″; “There is a danger of war breaking out” and other texts.

After discovering that the content of the marquee message was wrong, the news anchor at that time urgently clarified and apologized to the audience, and then China Television also clarified and apologized in the form of a marquee on various channels, and posted a pinned message on the YouTube live channel to correct the error.

“Correction notice: China Television News station cooperated with the New Taipei City Fire Department to record a disaster prevention video yesterday. This morning, due to the wrong path setting for the post-production personnel alert, the war and disaster prevention alert of yesterday’s disaster prevention exercise was mistakenly planted. Please don’t panic. I hereby clarify and apologize!”

sparked debate

Although China Television immediately corrected and clarified, such a major misinformation caused heated discussions from all walks of life in Taiwan.

The misinformation that a Chinese missile hit Taiwan is particularly striking at this time, as many people worry regarding whether China will take advantage of the chaos to attack Taiwan and achieve its goal of reunification.

Some netizens immediately checked online and asked on the PTT network platform, “Has the war already started? Or am I living in a parallel world?” They said that they were frightened by the news in the morning when watching China Television’s news, and once thought that a war broke out in Taiwan.

Many netizens responded, “The news is really messed up”, “It’s too exaggerated to make such a mistake”, “Isn’t anyone checking it?” Some netizens also joked, “Do you know how it will be repaired and recorded in advance? “

Jiang Qichen, the former chairman of the Kuomintang and the current legislator, said that China Television’s report has caused panic.

However, Taiwanese media reported that although the general public’s reaction to the wrong news was mostly astonishment and surprise, there was no sign of panic on the streets of Taiwan.

the cause of the incident

China Television later issued an apology statement and explained the incident:

China Television said that it was recently commissioned by the New Taipei City Fire Department to produce and broadcast a disaster prevention public welfare video, and recorded a disaster prevention exercise video at 2 pm on April 19. The content and marquee text in the video were provided by the New Taipei City Fire Department. .

When the on-duty director of the production and broadcasting center was recording the disaster prevention exercise video, he used the horizontal racing layout of the news LIVE system to change the text file link path. 20th) When the morning news at 7:00 o’clock once more activated the horizontal horse racing system, it was mistakenly planted as the wrong path.

The morning news director and editor found the error and corrected it at 7 minutes and 49 seconds following the broadcast, and the news anchor immediately clarified and apologized to the audience urgently.

To this end, China Television also urgently convened a self-discipline committee to review this major negligence, and will punish the relevant dereliction of duty personnel, supervisors and managers.

investigation and accountability

In response to China Television’s mistaken broadcast of the news of the war in the Taiwan Strait, Taiwan’s National Communications and Communication Commission (NCC), which is in charge of the media, has come to China Television to conduct an administrative inspection and requested the convening of a self-discipline committee. Necessary measures will be taken following the case is clarified.

NCC officials said that initially, it may involve a violation of the “Radio and Television Law” to obstruct public order or good customs, and can be fined NT$200,000 to 2 million (regarding 6800 to 68000 US dollars) according to law.

China Television is a member of the Taiwan Public Broadcasting Group. The Ministry of Culture of Taiwan also stated that it was a mistake that should never have happened and solemnly apologized for the major negligence of the China Television News Marquee.

The Kuomintang Legislative Yuan group held a press conference, questioning the serious problems of China Television’s internal control and spreading false information. It is not possible to apologize and absolve responsibility with one sentence of homework negligence. It must be thoroughly investigated and held accountable.