Media reform movements in Taiwan

This chapter discusses how media reform groups in Taiwan and the Media Watch Foundation and the Campaign for Media Reform in particular worked together to engage in media reform movements ranging from the promotion of public media to the campaign against big media mergers. The strategies they utilized are context- sensitive and mostly effective in terms of raising public awareness, setting public agendas and having an impact upon government decisions and policies concerning media freedom and media democratization. These strategies include, among others, engaging in public debates, lobbying the legislature, and, where necessary, mobilizing public support in both online and offline protests. However, these strategies have limitations too. Most of all, the mainstream media were usually hostile to media reform movements and the government was passive in its response to the cause of media reform. To overcome this extremely difficult situation, media activists in Taiwan have taken advantage of new media and social media to pursue their media reform goals and have increasingly engaged in creating more diverse information alternatives to the mainstream media.