Taiwan TV manager resigns over fake news scandal

Apr 2, 2007, 6:47 GMT

Taipei - The manager of Taiwan's most popular cable television channel TVBS resigned on Monday over the airing of a fake video showing a gangster challenging the law.

Lee Tao, founder of the 13-year-old 24-hour TV channel, resigned over the March 27 incident which sent shock waves through Taiwan and caused the National Communications Commission (NCC) to find TVBS 2 million Taiwan dollars (62,500 US) and ordered TVBS to change its boss.

Lee said the incident shows that TVBS failed to follow the media's ethics and carry out its responsibilities.

'I want to shoulder all responsibility. My heart is full of pain and I deeply regret it,' he said in a statement. He urged the public to continue to support TVBS, which has 1,000 staff, and monitor its news reporting.

Last Tuesday TVBS aired a 5-minute recording of Chou Cheng-pao, a notorious gangster in Taichung, central Taiwan, challenging the police and another gangster, Liu Rei-rong.

The footage, shot in a motel room, showed Chou sitting in a bed with guns and rifles lying in front of him as he admitted to participating in three recent gun battles in Taichung and voiced grievances against Liu.

'If I see you again, I will kill you!' Chou shouted into the camera while, waving a pistol and pulling the trigger.

The video sent shockwaves across Taiwan and left many people fearing for their safety and doubting whether police or gangsters were in control.

TVBS initially claimed that Chou had made the tape himself and mailed it to the channel. But when police questioned TVBS about the source of the video on Wednesday, TVBS admitted the video was shot by its reporter for Chou in the motel room.

Prosecutors suspect TVBS taped the video to boost its viewership, but TVBS insists its reporter was forced by the gangster Chou to tape the video and was ordered not to reveal how it was made. TVBS has sacked the reporter as well as another reporter who helped cover up the scandal.

Police have arrested Chou and discovered that the firearms displayed in the video were toy guns.

Since Taiwan dropped restrictions on the media in the late 1980s, the country's television market has ballooned from three state-controlled TV stations to 100 24-hour cable channels, triggering fierce competition among TV companies and reporters.

In the battle for scoops and viewers, some Taiwan channels sensationalize or even fabricate news.