BRIAN CANAVE WRITES — The English-language newspaper The China Post recently criticized local news media in Taiwan. At Asia Media, we couldn’t agree more with what it had to say.
In a recent editorial, the Post laments over local coverage of the second Taipei International Comics & Animation Festival. Their complaint centers on the portrayal of otakus – die hard fans of comics and anime who visited the festival.
Some news outlets suggested otakus stay at home all day because of their inept social skills. Others commented on how “many geeks rushed into the building when the door was opened and said it was a good way for them to exercise.” Additionally, when attractive female entertainers showed up at the event, the media referred to them as “goddesses of otakus.”
The central point of the editorial highlighted that news is becoming more subjective and entertainment-oriented. Instead of researching about otakus or interviewing them for their opinion, the media resorted to low jabs at the attendees of the festival.
The editors went on to argue that media should be more conscientious about the reports it publishes. It should not just rely on YouTube and social media trends for articles.
Ultimately, the news media of Taiwan is turning into entertainment media. We here at Asia Media noticed this trend as well. Out of our past ten Taiwan articles, half have been related to entertainment such as viral videos, social media, film shoots in Taipei, singer Desert Chang, and the Taiwanese-Brazilian‘s return to Taiwan.
There is certainly more going on in Taiwan than knee-jerk pop culture items. Both Asia Media and the local media of Taiwan need not turn into the next Perez Hilton or TMZ. Instead, as the editorial ends, “the media needs to pay less attention on viewer numbers and more attention on being responsible.”