[Taipei Times]Protesters demand TVBS apology over harassment
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2006/08/23/2003324429
PITCHING TOGETHER: Demonstrators furious about the media's
treatment of baseball star Wang Chien-ming's family let their
feelings be known in Taipei yesterday
By Max Hirsch
STAFF REPORTER
Wednesday, Aug 23, 2006,Page 2
A student protest blocked off the parking lot outside the
Taipei offices of TVBS yesterday, drawing a lively throng of
reporters and demonstrators.
Camera crews from major domestic TV networks descended on the
demonstration as police from the Taipei City Police
Department's Zhongzheng First Police District Station were
dispatched to the scene.
The only camera crew missing from the raucous event was that of
TVBS, even though the demonstration was literally on the
network's doorstep.
But TVBS reporters had good reason not to be at the protest.
The protesters' grievances were directed at TVBS; they had come
to demand an apology from the network for recent news coverage
they claimed had violated the privacy and human rights of New
York Yankees pitcher Wang Chien-ming (王建民).
"All six major TV news networks have violated the Wangs'
privacy but TVBS' coverage was the most objectionable and lead
to the media frenzy that infringed on the Wang family's human
rights," the protester added.
The revelation by Wang that he was adopted, revealed in a
recent interview with the New York Times, led to reporters
besieging his family members for interviews.
On Aug. 17, Wang issued an open letter stating that he would no
longer grant interviews to the Taiwanese media due to the
harassment of his family.
"TVBS come out! TVBS apologize!" the protesters -- some clad in
New York Yankees baseball caps and jerseys -- shouted in unison.
Black Camry cars with tinted windows, marked as TVBS-owned
vehicles, periodically drove through the outside parking lot
during the four-hour protest, but none stopped.
Finally, after two hours in the rain, a TVBS representative
exited the building to address the protesters personally.
"I've been instructed to tell you that I have passed along
[your request for an apology] to my superiors," the
representative told the protesters.
"What about an apology?" protesters asked.
"I have passed along your concerns to my superiors," the
representative repeated and returned behind the line of police.
"They sent a low-level manager to tell us that they would pass
our message along," said Lee Ming-tsung (李明璁), a professor
of sociology at Taiwan National University and organizer of
yesterday's rally.
More than three hours into the demonstration, Lee and other
organizers agreed through police intermediaries to meet with a
TVBS spokesperson in the building, alone.
Another hour passed before Lee and other protesters emerged
from their closed-door meeting with TVBS.
"A high-level spokesman did apologize," Lee announced. "He said
that TVBS was sorry and that the network's coverage of Wang in
this case was inappropriate. He told us that TVBS will issue a
formal apology on its Web site, and it is possible that TVBS
will apologize on air, too."
He added that although such an apology was rare in the history
of Taiwanese media, he was disappointed that TVBS
representatives hadn't apologized in person and on record.
He also said that he would lead a boycott of TVBS programs if
the network failed to follow through with its commitment to
publicly apologize.
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